


You ever think? In another life?

by pbfan08



Category: Prison Break
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:18:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 87,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pbfan08/pseuds/pbfan08
Summary: This is another life… Michael is still an engineer, Sara a physician. They live in the same neighbourhood and this is their story. Lincoln, LJ, Sofia and Sucre are also part of the story but there is no prison, no conspiracy. Ah, and the Governor did not die.





	1. Saturday morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Prison Break (I wish I did!)  
> Initially posted on fanfiction.net only. Decided to post it here as well.

It was early November but the air was still a little warm and it felt more like October. Michael was supposed to be at Lincoln’s at 9:30 am but it was 9:30 and he wasn’t on his way yet. He had woken up just before 9:00 and after a quick shower went to the Starbucks a few minutes away from his apartment. 

 

It’s when he was waiting in line to get served that he saw her for the first time. If he had to explain what she looked like he would say that she was beautiful, no doubt about that. However, she was not beautiful like models appear, somewhat artificial and pretentious. No, this woman was different. He did not know her but he knew that she was different. She was beautiful but in an understated kind of way. Michael was not an expert in makeup but if she did wear makeup it was subtle and only highlighted her natural elegance. Yes, that was it! She was elegant. Even for a Saturday morning stroll to Starbucks. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a leather jacket on top of a green sweater. Her clothes were not flashy, yet they were tasteful and fitting her body perfectly. Her hair was done in a loose bun that said “it took me thirty seconds, yet I still look good”. There was something else about her. Intelligence? Confidence? Independence? Maybe a mix of all these qualities? He did not want to look at her too much (hell, he did not want to pass as a stalker) but he could not help it. She was hypnotizing! She seemed to sense eyes on her and looked in Michael’s direction and saw him. These eyes, wow! She had never seen eyes like these. So blue, so piercing. Not in a creepy way though. But definitely intriguing. Michael looked away and tried to focus on the muffins behind the glass. The line was long this morning, she thought. She would not admit it but she was an addict. A Starbucks addict. She always told herself that she should make her breakfast more frequently but she often ended up one bloc away from her apartment ordering a latte and something to eat. Usually it was only during the week, on her way to work, but this morning she felt lazy and decided to go to the coffee shop. She turned around and realized that the place was particularly busy. She looked at the line for the other cash register wondering if her line was the only one not moving fast and noticed the man’s eyes on her once again. She briefly held up his gaze and then looked away. She sensed herself blush a little bit as their eyes met. Where was she? In high school?!! Blushing because your eyes meet a stranger’s eyes? Finally, it was her turn to order. Michael’s turn came up too and he ordered a hot chocolate and a chocolate chip muffin (yes, he had a sweet tooth!). “For here or to go?” He did not answer. He was trying to hear what the beautiful woman next to him was saying. “So, for here or to go”, the cashier repeated a little louder. “For here”, he answered suddenly, not completely sure why since he was already late. “You have to talk to her”, a little voice in his head told him. Easier said than done when you are shy like Michael was. It was not that he could not talk to women, he wasn’t that shy, it was just that he did not know how to start a conversation with a stranger, regardless how beautiful she was, or maybe the fact that she was beautiful made it harder for him? “Think, Michael, think! You’re supposed to be smart, find something!” As he moved to the side to wait for his drink, he realized that she had moved to the side as well and was next to him, literally next to him. She looked around again to examine the place. He followed her gaze and saw that there was only one table available. His hot chocolate finally in hand, while the beautiful stranger was still waiting, he surprised himself by saying very naturally (god, he hoped he sounded natural and not totally lame): “do you want to share the last table?” She looked at him, confused. Was he talking to her? All of a sudden, Michael realized how bold and so out of character he had been to ask her to share a table. “We can just sit down, divide the table in two and pretend we’re alone. I mean, it would be a shame to spend your breakfast standing while there is a chair available”. She would normally not accept an invitation like this but there was something about him that made her forget her usual reservations towards strangers. “Ok, no talk, divide the table. I can do that”, she replied. Michael hardly contained his joy. That was a small victory.

 

Michael gallantly offered her to pick her seat before sitting down himself on the other chair. He was about to start eating his muffin when his eyes fell on the magazine that someone had left on their table. Marie Claire. Then one headline caught his attention: “5 questions to ask on a first date”. “Interested?” the stranger asked while pointing at the headline he had just read. “No, no”, he lied, “I am actually curious to see what they say the first signs of menopause are.” He indicated another headline without batting an eye. “You know, it’s important. From a medical point of view”. He suspected that she knew he was lying so he was trying to be funny. Her little laugh let him know that he had succeeded. He laughed too, relieved that she had not found him totally weird. They remained silent for a minute or two, eating and waiting for their drink to cool down a bit all the while eyeing the magazine cover from time to time. Sara noticed that he was wearing a faded pair of jeans, hiking shoes and a warm dark blue hoodie on a grey tee-shirt. Simple. Yet he managed to look good, she thought. Very good.

 

Looking back at the magazine, she said: “well, I am curious to know what they suggest to ask on a first date!”  
“Now that you are mentioning it, it could be interesting”, he replied with a smile.  
She opened the magazine and found the article:  
“So, first question: what do you do? Second, where are you from, or, a variation, where did you grow up? Third, what’s your favorite memory as a child? Fourth, do you want children? And, finally, where do you see yourself in 10 years?”  
“Hum…” he said with one eyebrow cocked, not appearing in the least convinced.  
“You don’t think that these questions are good?” she asked him.  
“I think some are terrible questions for a first date, others could be phrased differently”.  
“Ok, I am listening”.  
Michael found himself very self conscious suddenly and took a few seconds to collect himself, then he started: “So, first question: what do you do. If I tell you that I am an engineer, it does not tell anything about me, except maybe that I am somewhat good at maths and physics, which is highly irrelevant on a first date in my opinion.”  
She looked doubtful so he added: “You don’t believe me? Then tell me what you do!”  
“I am a physician”, she replied.  
“You being a physician tells me you have a strong knowledge of the human body but what else really? You could be a plastic surgeon only in it for the money. Or you could be a paediatrician doing volunteer work with homeless populations. You see, what that would tell me is not much and could be far from the truth. What I would like to know on a first date is why you chose to do what you do and what you like about it, maybe even what you don’t like about it. Then I would feel that I know you a little bit more. Otherwise, you can simply send me your cv and we don’t need to meet.”  
“You have a point”, she conceded with a slight smile and an interested gaze. “What else?”  
“Well, where you are from or where you grew up could lead to your family and I don’t think that’s a good topic for a first date”.  
“Why not?”  
“For starters, because on a first date, I would be more interested in talking about you than your family. Also, you never know what kind of dysfunctional family the other person grew up in so it might not be the safest topic of conversation”.  
“Hahaha, I guess you’re right! It could lead to awkward moments and that’s not the best idea on a first date. Next question…”  
“Don’t you find it a little too direct to ask if you want children on a first date? I mean, would you ask it before or after you have ordered your meal?”  
“Ok, it is direct but isn’t it what women reading Marie Claire would like to know? They are not teenagers, dating for the sake of it. At some point, you don’t want to waste any time on someone who is not on the same wave length as you in that respect, you know? And I guess it’s more efficient to know it sooner than later? I agree, asking the question could be weird so that would be on my list of questions that I would never ask on a first date but still would like to know the answer.”  
“Ok. What else would be on your list then? You have me intrigued now.”  
“Hum, I don’t know, why are you single or, a variation, can you tell me about your previous relationships? And, do you have a criminal record?”  
Michael almost chocked on his beverage. “Are you speaking from personal experience?”  
She laughed. “No. But admit it, it could be useful to know that the person you are having a date with doesn’t have a restraining order against his or her ex and isn’t a stalker.”  
“When you put it like that… Hum, full disclosure, I am not a stalker and I have no criminal record!”  
“Hahaha, good to know! So, what do you have against your best childhood memory?”  
“Again, who says I had a nice childhood? I could have had a terrible childhood and asking me to highlight one good memory could prove difficult or could just make me think about all the crap that I had to endure, which wouldn’t put me in a good mood for a first date.”  
“Was your childhood that bad?” she asked, on a joking tone.  
Michael did not answer, averted her eyes and quickly moved on to the next question, trying to sound lighthearted. “Final question: where do you see yourself in 10 years? Seriously, are you on a date or looking for a business partner?” She laughed out loud at his latest words. He continued: “Where do I see myself in 10 years? What am I supposed to answer? Happily married with two kids? Bald and fat?” She laughed again. “There is no way to know. So there is no point asking because the only answer you will get is whether or not I can bullshit my way well enough to get a second date. Because that’s the goal of your first date -- determining whether or not the person deserves a second date.”  
He stopped and she looked at him, half amused, half intrigued. “Ok, you defended your thesis well. So what would you suggest to ask on a first date besides the questions that you already proposed?”  
“Well, I would ask you what your favorite place in town is and why. I would ask you what you did the last time you were on vacation. I would ask you what you like to do when you don’t work. And last but not least, I would ask you what your favorite ice cream flavour is”.  
“What does my favorite ice cream flavour have to do with anything?” she quipped back.  
He looked at her and taking a very serious tone he said “Everything! It has everything to do with it. You need to be “ice cream compatible”. That’s one of the secrets of a successful relationship.”  
She smiled at his feigned expert statement and continued: “Please enlighten me…” She paused, realizing that she did not know his name.  
“Michael. My name is Michael” he said, understanding exactly what her sudden hesitation meant.  
“Sara”, she answered back.  
“Glad to finally know your name, Sara”, he said with a smile. Their eyes locked for a short moment.  
“Likewise, Michael. So, I was going to ask you to enlighten me and tell me what exactly you mean by “ice cream compatible” and what the secrets of a successful relationship are. Well, according to you…”  
Her tone was teasing and he answered in the same manner. “Well, it’s simple: if we have the same favorite ice cream flavour, we are not compatible.”  
“Oh no? Why not?” It was totally ridiculous but she wanted to know where he was going with that.  
“No, absolutely not. You see, if we have the same favorite ice cream flavour, we are always going to fight for the bigger bowl of ice cream or the last scoop, which will inevitably lead to disaster. On the contrary, if we have different favorite ice cream flavours, and even better, if we don’t like each other’s favorite, there is no problem. No fight. Pure bliss. And that’s why ice cream is important!” He finished with a big smile, proud of the way he had ended his argument.  
Sara chuckled and asked: “Ok. And besides ice cream, what are the keys to a successful relationship?”  
“Well, communication obviously and…” He paused for a bigger effect and then added almost nonchalantly: “Sex. You can’t have a good relationship without good sex”.  
Sara laughed out loud once again and, without skipping a beat, she asked him: “quick question: the ice cream, it’s before or after sex?”  
“Hahaha, it depends, I guess”.  
The conversation continued, easily flowing from one topic to the next, and they were both laughing when Sara heard her phone ring. “Hi Dad! How are you?” she answered cheerfully. Michael could hear the other person on the line, Sara’s father: “Where are you, Sara? I have been waiting for you for 15 minutes.”  
“What? What time is it?” She looked at her watch and cursed: “Shit! Sorry, Dad. I had not realized it was so late. I am at the Starbucks near my apartment. I am going to try to catch a cab and be there as soon as I can.” She hung up, looked at Michael and got up. “Sorry, Michael, I have to go. My father…”  
She did not finish her sentence and Michael said while getting up too: “No worries. It’s getting late and I should go too. I usually don’t have a car but I have my brother’s truck today. Do you want a ride somewhere?”  
She normally would not accept a ride from strangers but was Michael still a stranger to her? Probably not anymore. Not after talking to him for nearly three hours so she answered: “that would be very nice, thank you”.  
They exited the café and Michael showed Sara the grey truck that was parked in front of them. “I was lucky when I arrived this morning, a car was leaving.”  
“Well, not so lucky”, Sara said mockingly, pointing at the ticket that was on the truck’s windshield.  
“Oops!” He quickly took the parking ticket and, remembering their previous conversation, added with a wink: “Don’t worry, I am going to pay it right away! So, where are we going?”  
“Do you know Vinnie’s?”  
“The restaurant? On Roosevelt?”  
She nodded. “Do you know how to get there?”  
“Yes.”  
Michael started the truck and they made small talk until they reached their destination. Michael found a parking spot in front of a theatre not too far from Vinnie’s. They both looked at the big signs indicating that Jaws was showing that night.  
Sara started to talk first: “Have you ever seen it?”  
“Yes, my brother made me watch it when I was a kid. It got me traumatized for years!”  
“Hahaha, I know. I was afraid to swim in the ocean for a long time afterwards”.  
“I only took showers afterwards. No more baths for me.” He sounded genuine, as if still frightened at the idea of having a shark in his bath.  
Without thinking further, she asked him: “do you want to go and watch it tonight?”  
“Are you asking me out on a date, Sara?” His eyebrow was raised, his look inquisitive.  
“No, no, absolutely not. I am merely offering you the opportunity to face your fears. You know as an adult.” Nobody was duped but they pretended otherwise. “So what do you say?”  
“I don’t know… Do you think they have popcorn?”  
“Popcorn?”  
“Yes, you know, so that I can get a big bag and hide behind it if necessary?”  
“I am sure they have popcorn”, she retorted.  
“In that case, yes, I’ll go with you. I can’t pass up on a wonderful opportunity to face my fears!” He looked at her intently while he was saying the last sentence.  
Sara tried to remain cool and said: “Alright. 7:30 then? That should give us ample time to buy popcorn and find good seats, you know, near an exit, in case it’s too much for you to handle.”  
Ha, the banter was fun. “7:30 is perfect.”  
“Listen, it is highly unlikely but in case the hospital calls me, you should give me your number”. He obliged and she sent him a text. It simply said “It’s Sara :)”. When they had confirmation that the message had been well received, Sara said: “Thanks for the ride, Michael. I’ll see you at 7:30.”  
“You are very welcome. And yes, 7:30.”  
Sara exited the car promptly and waved goodbye. Michael took a few seconds to think about what he could write back and then typed something. Sara who was walking towards the restaurant still had her phone in her hand and read Michael’s text: “Are you sure they have popcorn?!!” She chuckled.


	2. Dealing with curiosity

“Sara, finally! I’m glad that you were able to catch a cab.” His father got up to give her a hug before sitting down again.  
“Actually, I got a ride.”  
“Ah yes? Is that the reason why you are late?” He looked at her suspiciously. “You are never late so tell me: why were you still at Starbucks when I called you? Who were you with?”  
“I told you, Dad. I am sorry, I had not realized that it was so late.” For the second time that day, Sara thought that she was not a teenager and that she shouldn’t feel like one. But her father insisted and she knew that she had to give him an answer, any answer, otherwise he would keep on asking questions. “I was with someone, we started talking and one thing leading to the next, you called.”  
“A man? Anything I should know?”  
“There is nothing to know really. I just met him, we talked and that’s it.”  
“That’s it? Really? Excuse me but the cheerful tone that you had when you answered your phone earlier and the smile that you can’t seem to remove from your face tell me the contrary.” He knew her daughter and he couldn’t resist probing her a little more. “So, what does he do?”  
“He’s an engineer.”  
“That’s not a bad start. How old is he?”  
“I don’t know, Dad! About my age?”  
“Good. Funny?”  
“Dad, please!” Sara was getting exasperated by her father’s insistence but she nonetheless added “yes, very funny”.  
“Excellent. Are you planning on seeing him again?”  
“As a matter of fact, yes. We’re going to watch a movie tonight. Happy now?”  
“Yes, very.” He had a big smile what he said it. He was teasing her but wasn’t it what fathers were supposed to do?  
It was true, Michael was funny. And smart. And he had beautiful eyes. And he was easy to talk to. And she was going on a date with him tonight regardless of what she had said earlier… Wait! Did she really ask him on a date? Just like that? What was going on? Since when was she that daring? She really wanted to know why he was still single. But no, you couldn’t ask that on a first date! Her father’s latest news report was coming to an end and Sara realized that she’d better pay more attention.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Lincoln: “Mike, it’s about time! You texted me “Running late” over three hours ago. What happened?”  
Michael: “Hum, nothing. Sorry.”  
Sofia with a teasing tone: “Is she pretty?” Michael did not answer and avoided her eyes. He was trying to find a plausible explanation (anything but the truth) to give them but he could not seem to find one. “Oh my god, you were with a woman! Don’t deny it, Michael, you are blushing!”  
LJ: “It’s true, Uncle Mike. You are blushing!” LJ was with the others in the kitchen. Michael was still silent.  
Sofia: “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Michael.”  
Michael with a defensive tone: “I don’t have a girlfriend!”  
Sofia: “But you were with a woman.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement. Michael nodded.  
LJ: “So, Uncle Mike, is she pretty?”  
Michael: “Yes”. His answer wasn’t loud but his smile and the little spark in his eyes let them know that she was more than just pretty to Michael.  
Sofia with a gentle smile: “So, what’s her name?”  
Michael: “Sara.”  
Lincoln: “Anyways, thanks for the coffee, Mike!”  
Michael with a sheepish look: “Look, sorry….” He was supposed to get coffee for his brother, nephew and sister-in-law (well, technically she wasn’t his sister-in-law since Linc and Sofia were not married but they had been together for so long that she was his sister-in-law). But when it was time to order at Starbucks, with Sara next to him, he had decided to forget about his previous family engagement and seize the moment. The rest, as they say, was history… In an attempt to be forgiven, Michael volunteered to join Lincoln on his trip to the hardware store to pick up some renovation materials.


	3. A date with sharks

When Michael finally got home that day, he had time to clean his apartment, eat a sandwich and take a shower before it was time to go and meet Sara. 

 

“Hey, you’re here”, she said with a happy smile. He smiled back. He was feeling a little nervous at the idea of seeing her again but managed to say hi back. “Shall we?” she asked.  
“We shall.”

 

They bought their tickets then went to the popcorn counter where they each ordered a bag and a drink. Michael had changed clothes and Sara thought that he looked very good. He was now wearing another pair of jeans (less old this time) and a dark grey v-neck sweater with a white tee-shirt. He had a black puffer jacket and, on his feet, there was a pair of black Puma shoes. Sara had also changed and she was wearing a light grey wool sweater and black pants. Her hair was now down. Very elegant (and extremely attractive, if he had to be completely honest).

 

“So what did you do this afternoon?” Michael inquired once they had found good seats.  
“Well, nothing exciting. I did my groceries and a little bit of cleaning. You?”  
“I only had time to clean my apartment. I still need to do my groceries but there’s always tomorrow!”  
They continued talking until the movie started. At some point, Michael’s attention turned to Sara. She appeared to be totally focused on the film. God, she was beautiful! He couldn’t believe he was on a date with her. Yeah, yeah, she said it wasn’t a date but it was a date, right? Right?! He tried to will his eyes to look at the screen and, while he vaguely remembered the story, he couldn’t help but jump off his seat when a great white shark attacked a female swimmer. Sara looked at him, surprised, and giggled: “Are you okay?”  
“Yes, yes. I did not see that coming!” He probably looked like an idiot (or a child) but at least she found him amusing. That was something.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They were exiting the theater and talking about the movie and its decades-old special effects when two women holding hands interrupted them. “Hey Sara, how are you doing?”   
“Hey, Sam! What a surprise!”   
Sam looked at Sara, then at Michael, then at Sara again with a curious look.  
“Sam, Anna, this is Michael. Michael, this is Sam and this is Anna.” And talking to Michael, she added: “Sam and I work together.” Sam was a brunette with long hair in a ponytail. Anna was a tall blonde with mid-length wavy hair.   
Once the introductions were done, Sam asked them: “What did you guys see?”  
Sara answered: “Jaws. You?”  
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So who was the most afraid of sharks?”  
Michael and Sara looked at each other and started laughing. “Him!”, she said pointing at Michael.  
After a few exchanges, Sam said: “Well, it was fun seeing you. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Sara, I’ll see you on Monday.” By the way Sam was looking at her when she said that, Sara knew that she would have to answer a lot of questions at work on Monday morning…

 

They had discovered that they were living 10 minutes away from each other and since it wasn’t too cold that night, upon Michael’s suggestion, they walked back home.  
“Well, this is me”, Sara said in front of a tall building. “Thanks for tonight. That was fun.” That was true. Maybe it was the movie, she thought, but she immediately doubted it was the only reason. She enjoyed Michael’s company very much and had to admit that she was attracted to him even if she had only met him a few hours before.   
“Yes, it was fun. Thank you.” And summoning all his courage he added: “Listen, do you want to do something next weekend? Dinner maybe?”  
“Michael, are you asking me out on a date?”   
Michael wasn’t sure if she was making fun of him or was actually serious with her inquiry. He grew nervous again all of a sudden. “Maybe?”  
“Maybe?!” Her look was now undeniably teasing.  
“Yes, yes, I am asking you out on a date.” He gave her a shy smile.  
She smiled at him and thought he was adorable. “I’d like that”, she replied, not breaking eye contact. Seeing that it had started to rain she opened her building’s door and added: “Call me?”  
“Yes, I will. Good night, Sara.”  
“Good night, Michael.”  
He asked her out and she said yes! What a day!


	4. A random encounter on a Sunday night

Michael spent his Sunday wondering when it was acceptable to call Sara. Was it too soon? Should he wait a little bit more? He didn’t want to look indifferent but he didn’t want to pressure her either. There must be rules, no? How to be a perfect gentleman? So many years in school and yet he had failed to learn the most basic lessons… Speaking about school, he was hoping that his time with LJ would distract him enough. High school physics was a very easy topic for him and he had accepted to help his nephew with his homework. They were exiting the pizzeria a few blocs away from his apartment when he heard a familiar voice.  
“Hey Michael! We never met before yesterday despite living in the same neighbourhood for years and now we can’t stop seeing each other!” Sara was smiling at him and he couldn’t believe that she was in front of him. He had thought about her all day (and part of the night too) and there she was!  
“Hey Sara!” That’s all he managed to reply but he had the biggest grin on his face that said it all.  
“So pizza tonight?”  
“Yeah, yeah. Pizza and homework are a good mix. Physics!” He looked at LJ while he was talking and introduced them. Remembering his previous internal debate, he quickly added: “I was planning on calling you, you know. I just didn’t know when it was appropriate for me to call…” Sara really found his nervousness absolutely adorable. She was staring at him with an expectant look when he continued: “I am going to call you tomorrow. Around 6:00 maybe? Would that work?”  
“Yes, that would be good.”   
“Alright then. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, Sara.”  
“Good night, Michael.”  
Where they were far enough from Sara to hear them, LJ said: “She is pretty, Uncle Mike. Very pretty!”  
Michael shook his head and smiled.


	5. Birthday plans

It was getting near 6:00 pm on Monday and Michael already had his phone in his hand. She had told him to call but he was hesitant. He had suggested dinner. Was he supposed to pick a restaurant as well? He definitely thought that a restaurant was safe enough for a first date. Wait, would it be their first date? Was the movie their first date? She did claim Jaws wasn’t actually a date so maybe that would be their first official date? Still apprehensive, he decided to send her a text message: “Is it a good time to call you?” He promptly received a simple “yes”. Summoning his courage, he finally called her.  
She picked up right after the first ring: “Hello Michael!”  
“Hi Sara. How was your day?”  
“Not bad, not bad and, when you’re in my line of work, I guess it’s good. Yours?”  
“Good, good, thank you. So… Are you still up for dinner this weekend? How does Friday sound?”  
“Actually I have something on Friday…” Michael felt his heart shrink. She was going to back out. Well, that was disappointing. Very disappointing. He thought that they had a connexion and now… Sara could hear the regret in his tone when he murmured a short “okay”. “But you can join me if you want! Actually you are invited.” Sara’s cheerful voice and invitation shook him out of his reverie.   
“Excuse me?”  
“Do you remember Sam? My colleague? It’s her birthday on Friday and when she invited me this morning she told me that you could come too. I mean, if you want to. It’s going to be her and Anna, plus Marc and Ali, two of her friends. We’re going to a restaurant and then I think she said something about drinks and maybe even dancing.”  
Michael didn’t think that he could wait an extra day so he gladly accepted the invitation. He was going to see Sara on Friday! Life was good.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They had been sitting in the restaurant for two minutes when Sara received a text message: “Sorry I’m on my way. Will be there in 10-15 minutes.”  
“Was it from your boyfriend, Sara?” Sam asked with a teasing grin.  
“It was from Michael, if that’s what you insinuated. He’s going to be a little late.”  
“Please, Sara, we are curious to know more about this Michael.” It was Anna who was talking. “Is it true that you met him in line at Starbucks?”  
“Yeah, it’s true.”  
“I read somewhere that it’s a great place to hook up!” This latest snarky comment was from Ali. “What was his pickup line? Or maybe you talked to him first?!”  
Sara knew they would not let go. First of all, Ali and Marc were always questioned when they were seeing someone or in a relationship. Then, they particularly loved to mock her love life, or lack thereof, going so far as suggesting that she might be a lesbian and in total denial of her “true” sexual orientation. It was supposed to be her colleague’s (and friend’s) birthday but she had the feeling that they were going to examine her every move, as well as Michael’s, tonight.  
“I am not going to answer that.”  
“Come on, Sara! Give us something! You’re not shy of questions when we are in your situation.” Marc was not ready to give up.  
“Okay, okay. He said something like “do you want to share the last table?””  
“Really? And it worked? Sorry, but I think it’s pretty lame.”  
“What can I say, Ali, there was only one table left and you might have said yes too if you had seen him. Well, maybe not him, but a female version of him…”   
“Please, do tell!” Marc was definitely interested now. As the only other person interested in men in their little group, he had always liked to talk with Sara about potential boyfriends.  
“You know; you are all terrible! I don’t know what to say… Sam, Anna, you met him. How would you describe him?”  
Sam thought for a second then she offered: “Tall. Good looking. Blue eyes.”   
“Nice smile too”, Anna added.  
“Not bad, Sara. Poor guy, he doesn’t know what’s going to hit him when he gets here!” Marc couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. Tonight was going to be fun!

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara spotted him as he entered the restaurant. He smiled at her and she smiled back, not sure if she was supposed to kiss him (on the cheek!), hug him, shake his hand (no, that would awkward) or just do nothing. He seemed to share her uncertainty as he stood there, in front of her, undecided. Finally, they were rescued by Sam: “Hi Michael. It’s good to see you!”  
“It’s good to see you too, Sam. Happy birthday!”  
While Michael was getting rid of his messenger back and coat, Sam started the introductions.  
“Nice suit!”  
“Huh, thanks, Marc.” Michael was wearing a dark grey suit with a white shirt and a grey tie with pink motifs.   
“Hugo Boss?”  
“Yeah. How do you know?”  
“It’s my job to know. I’m a fashion designer and I’ve always liked Hugo Boss suits.”  
“Well, sorry, I didn’t have time to go back home and change…” Michael finished his sentence and sat down next to Sara who had also noticed that Michael looked particularly good. Having only seen him on a weekend when he was casually dressed, she hadn’t expected him to wear a suit that night. Not that she minded actually. He was really attractive in his suit and tie.  
“So you’re really an engineer?” Anna asked.  
“Yes, yes, I am. What about you? Are you a physician too?”  
“No. I am a professor.”  
“Of what?”  
“Russian literature.”  
“That’s great!”  
“Excuse me, Michael. I don’t really know you – is it you being sarcastic right now?”  
“No, not at all. I think it’s great that you’re a professor of Russian literature. Russian literature is fascinating. Why did you ask?”  
“Well, because usually people react differently when they learn what I do. More like “oh, it must be so boring” or “why on Earth would you choose that?” But hey, I’ll take it.”  
“So you’re at Loyola?”  
“Yes. And you know this because…”  
“I studied at Loyola and minored in Russian Lit.”  
“You did?!” Sara exclaimed, looking at him with big round eyes.   
Michael just shrugged and then looked at Ali: “I guess you’re the only one left…”  
“I work at Loyola too. I am a professor. Neuroscience.”  
“Cool. And no, I am not sarcastic.” He said with a smile targeted at Anna.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sam thought she had just finished opening her presents when Michael took a little box out of his bag and handed it to her.  
“You didn’t have to, Michael.”  
“Well it’s your birthday and you invited me so… Sorry, I wasn’t sure what to get you.”  
“Thank you.” Sam opened it and found a gift card from the theater where they had met the week before. “Maybe Anna and I can go watch Jaws tomorrow!” she said to Michael. “So, everybody in for drinks and a little bit of dancing?” They all nodded and then turned to look at Michael.  
“What?”  
“We’re going to a gay club. Is it okay with you?”  
Before Michael had the chance to answer Sam, Ali interrupted: “Have you ever been to a gay club?!”  
“Yes, I have. When I was in my last year of college. I went with a friend.”  
“A friend?!” That was Marc being Marc, that is trying to find an interesting story.  
“Yeah, we were in classes together. He told me that he wanted to go to a gay club but it would be his first time so he was hoping I would join him. So I went with him and we went back a couple of weeks later. Luckily for me he found an add for a running club there and contacted the person in charge of it, started running with them, met some new people and even found a boyfriend!”  
“So he wasn’t hitting on you?”  
“No, I am pretty sure he wasn’t. He just didn’t want to go there alone.”   
“Have you stayed in contact?”  
“Yes. Mostly through emails. He moved to Portland with his boyfriend right after college but he invited me to their wedding last summer.”  
“Did you go?”  
“Of course, I did. He’s my friend.”  
“So you’re coming with us then, Michael?” Sam asked.  
“Yes, yes”, Michael replied, smiling at Sara who smiled back. Her smile, wow! It simply lightened her face in the most beautiful way. And her lips… Well, he tried not to think about her lips too much.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They gathered around a table with high stools and soon after a tall drag queen in very high heels came for their orders.  
“Well, hello there!” She eyed Michael up and down and appreciated the view. “You come here often, honey?”  
“Huh, not really.”  
“What can I get you?”  
“I’ll have a Corona please.”  
“Anything for you, my love”, she replied with a wink and what was supposed to be a sexy smile.  
She took everyone else’s orders and decided that she wanted to have a little fun that night so she bluntly asked Michael: “You’re single by any chance?”  
Michael didn’t know what to answer to that. He tried not to look at Sara. Sara was also a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. Sensing their uneasiness, Marc jumped in: “Sorry, love, but he’s not on our team.”  
“Are you sure, darling?” she questioned Michael.  
“Yes, I’m pretty sure”, he chuckled.  
“That’s a shame. So you’re telling me that you’re not finding these beautiful legs attractive?” She showed off her long legs, which, he had to admit, were not bad at all.   
Once again, Marc replied for him: “I think he has his eyes on another pair of legs, if you know what I mean.” He indicated Sara with his head. Michael felt his cheeks redden a bit and Sara wished she would disappear. Marc had been right – the night was still young but they were already having fun!  
“You, sister? You’d better keep an eye on him, otherwise someone might steal him from you!” She finally turned around, not before winking at Sara who was now blushing too.  
“Michael, you’re sure you’re not on Marc’s team? I mean, I am certain Sara would like to know sooner than later!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“So you minored in Russian literature. It must not be common for an engineer.”  
“I guess not. What’s your expertise?”  
“Tolstoy”.  
“Is it a coincidence that you are named Anna?”  
“Believe it or not, it is. But I guess I felt a connexion with the story of Anna Karenina before even reading it because of that. What’s your favorite Russian author?”  
“I like Solzhenitsyn.”  
“Okay, you two, time to dance! Come on, Anna, it’s my birthday, you have to dance! And Michael, you can’t stay here all by yourself, it could be dangerous…”

 

Anna and Michael took one final sip of their drink and got up to join the rest of the group on the dance floor. They all danced to several songs, enjoying the music and having fun. Sara found Michael very sexy with his white shirt and loosened tie (okay, extremely sexy!) but damn, her friends did not make it easy for her! Or for him! They were like high school students at the prom, almost taking bets on who would make the first move. Michael could also feel several pairs of eyes on him and Sara, and while he was clearly very attracted to Sara, he tried to remain cool and keep a respectable distance between Sara and him. But it was getting more and more difficult. Man, she is gorgeous, Michael thought! He could hardly keep his eyes of her and when she happened to be looking in his direction… Oh my, it was getting hot! And it wasn’t simply because it was very warm inside the club and they were dancing. 

 

Eventually, Michael’s favorite drag queen (or was it the other way around?) came back and offered them some shots. Actually, she only talked to Michael and after silently communicating with the others he agreed.  
“How much do I owe you?”  
“It’s $3 each but yours is free so $15, please!” The flirtatious tone was back. “So how are things doing with your girlfriend? From what I can see, she’s not that into you. If I were her, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you…” She let a finger trail on Michael’s tie and chest. Michael was getting uncomfortable, not because of what the waitress was doing, even if he didn’t particularly like it, but rather because Sara could clearly hear her and well, she was not his girlfriend, not yet anyway, so it was getting a little awkward. He hoped that Sara would see the humour in the situation as her friends seemed to. Michael gave her a $20 bill and prayed that she would finally leave him/them alone. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Do you want to share a taxi?” Sara asked Michael as the four others were planning on catching a cab together since they lived in the same part of town.  
“Sure”, he said with a smile.  
“That was a fun night! It reminds me of college when we used to go out, dance… Probably drink too much…” Michael raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “What?” she continued. “What were you doing on a Friday night when you were in college?”  
“I don’t know, probably studying at the library”, a very serious Michael replied.  
“On a Friday night? You were at the library?”  
“It was very quiet! I loved going there on the weekend.”  
“Wow, I didn’t think you were such a nerd! I bet you had good grades!”  
“I did.”  
“Never going out on the weekend while in college, I hope you graduated with honors. Cum laude maybe?”  
“Magna cum laude actually”, he retorted.  
“Seriously? I was happy going out on the weekend and graduating cum laude. I am sure my father would have liked me to study more but, even with partying less, I don’t think I would have studied more. Well, I’m impressed, Michael.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

As the taxi stopped in front of Sara’s apartment building, Michael wasn’t ready to see Sara go so he asked: “Uh, do you want to do something tomorrow?”  
“Yeah. I’d like that. What do you have in mind?”  
“I don’t know. Any idea?”  
“Well, there’s a new exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Interested?”  
“Yes, why not?”   
“Okay then. Good night, Michael. Text me.” She kissed him on the cheek before exiting the taxi.  
“Good night, Sara.” Michael could still feel her lips on his cheek as he looked at her through the window. Life was good! Very good!


	6. A date at the museum

Michael was in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art, contemplating the building, when Sara arrived.  
“It’s a beautiful construction”, he said.  
“You’ve never been here before?” she asked.  
“No, I haven’t.”  
“Well, my father thought that a good education also included the arts so he made sure we visited as many museums as possible when I was growing up. It stayed with me and now I try to come here at least once a year. This is my favorite museum in Chicago.” 

 

They visited every room of the museum and paid particular attention to the new exhibit on female artists that Sara was interested in. She shared with him her knowledge about the arts and told him what she loved about what they were seeing. Michael wasn’t sure what was more mesmerizing, hearing Sara talk with passion or observing her getting enthusiastic about one painting or the other. Eventually, they stood before a painting by Charline von Heyl that left both of them speechless. The name of the piece was “Alastor”. Michael had no idea what it was supposed to represent and he couldn’t explain why but he knew that he liked it very much. Sara was also fascinated by the painting and they just stared at it for a long time in silence, reveling in this moment that somewhat connected them. By the time their tour of the museum was coming to an end, Michael was totally and irrevocably under Sara’s spell.

 

“Thank you for suggesting this visit today, Sara. Growing up, we never went to a museum. We didn’t do much to be completely honest. I clearly missed something”, he finished with a sincere smile.  
They were strolling on the waterfront as Sara remembered their first encounter and the conversation they had about the questions to ask on a first date. “You know; this is one of my favorite places in Chicago. You have a beautiful view of the city on one side and the water on the other, making you feel like you are somewhere else entirely.”   
Michael examined her for a few seconds and reciprocated: “You are probably going to laugh but one of my favorite places in town is Loyola’s science library. Until I started university, I didn’t feel like I fitted in. Except for Lincoln, I didn’t have a real family. High school was mostly lonely. There, at the library, for the first time, I felt like I belonged. I felt like I could be myself. I could love maths, I could love physics, and I didn’t have to apologize for it. Even better, it was finally a good thing. It’s beautiful inside too. It was really a safe heaven for me.” 

 

Sara was grateful that he was feeling comfortable enough with her to open up about his childhood, which she feared had been far from happy. “Since we’re on the questions to ask on a first date…” she started. He looked at her with surprise (she also detected a trace of amusement in his eyes) but he said nothing so she continued: “Why did you choose to become an engineer? What do you like about it?”  
“That was an easy choice. It was what I was good at in high school and what I could see myself studying for several years without getting bored. I still love it to this day and love the challenge that buildings represent. How you need to consider many parameters before agreeing on one course of action: structural imperatives, functionality, esthetics…” He finished his passionate explanations and looked at her in the eyes before asking: “Why did you choose to become a doctor?”  
“I just wanted to help people and I thought it was the best way to do it. I don’t like budget cuts to the health care system but I love my job anyway. It’s rewarding knowing that your actions can lead to someone feeling better. Of course, it’s not always the case. Sometimes you feel like you did nothing to alleviate someone’s pain and that’s the most difficult part of the job: knowing that you can’t save everyone… Ha! Sorry about the depressing thoughts!”  
“Please don’t apologize. I asked. Let’s move on to another question then: what do you like to do when you don’t work?”  
“I don’t know… Relax. Go to a museum”, she laughed and added: “Read. Watch a movie or a tv show. You?”  
“I like to spend time with my brother and my nephew. Recently I’ve been helping my brother a lot with the renovations at his house. I guess he finds that being an engineer is useful! I also enjoy cooking, reading a book or going for long walks…” Sara was starting to believe Michael was just a pigment of her imagination. A man like him couldn’t be real, she thought. Seriously, on top of his (many) qualities he can cook? Unaware of her interrogations, he carried on: “But now the most important question: what’s your favorite ice cream flavour?” He had a big grin when he finished the sentence.  
She smiled, recalling his very detailed (and silly) argument as to why the issue was relevant. “Chocolate.”   
His smile grew even bigger and he had little sparks in his eyes when he declared: “I hate chocolate ice cream”.  
“Really?”, she inquired with a sceptic look. “How do I know you are not lying right now? I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate ice cream?”  
“I will admit that it would have been tempting to lie and I’m glad I didn’t have to. The truth is I never liked chocolate ice cream. I don’t like chocolate cake either. I don’t know why.” He shrugged.   
“What’s your favorite flavour then?”  
“Coconut”, he replied with a proud smirk.   
She looked at him with intense eyes and couldn’t help but smile a little. According to Michael, they were “ice cream compatible” and Sara was happy about that. As for Michael, he was just relieved that his “theory” had been a good topic of conversation so far. One step in the right direction, he thought.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They ended up in an Italian restaurant where the conversation drifted to various topics. They had just ordered their food when Sara’s phone rang. She didn’t answer but checked the message when Michael left for the bathroom.  
“The phone call was from my father”, she said when he returned. “There’s this fundraising gala on Friday for a new wing in the children’s hospital. I usually don’t enjoy these events but it’s important for my father that I go. Plus, it’s for the children’s hospital so it’s difficult for me to say that it doesn’t concern me. Would you like to accompany me?”  
“As your date?” He sounded surprised. He was surprised actually, happily surprised, that Sara was inviting him for something else.  
“Yes, as my date,” she answered in a resolute way.   
“I’d love to.” He had a shy smile that Sara found extremely endearing. As if he didn’t know that she wanted him to be her date. They had spent the day together for crying out loud! “Do I have to wear a tuxedo?!” He pretended to be alarmed by the idea.  
“A suit will do”, she reassured him.  
“And what are you going to wear?” He was half curious, half teasing.  
“I’m not going to tell you!”   
“I understand you wanting to keep it a surprise but I was simply asking so that we don’t end up with awfully matching outfits. I’ll wear black then. Will that work?” She nodded. “So what does your father do to be involved in big fundraising events like these?”  
“He’s the Governor,” she replied.   
“The governor of what?” he genuinely asked.  
“The Governor of Illinois”, she said, not sure what to expect from Michael with her latest declaration.  
“Your father is the Governor of Illinois?!”  
“I guess I omitted to tell you what my last name was… Do you still want to go?”  
“Yes, yes, of course. Well, you are full of surprises, Sara! Or should I call you Dr. Tancredi?”  
She mockingly replied: “I could tell you the same thing, mister “I am an engineer who minored in Russian Literature and graduated magna cum laude”.”  
“Point taken.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Their meal finished, Michael once again walked Sara home. This time though his thoughts were going at high speed in his head. Could he kiss Sara goodnight? God knows he wanted to but was it too early? Maybe a kiss on the cheek like she did the night before? Should he wait for her to make the first move? He was still debating what to do or not to do when they arrived in front of her building. He looked at her, opened his mouth as if to say something (what, he had not idea) when his phone rang. Great timing, he thought to himself. It was LJ’s special ring tone and he couldn’t not answer as he had told his nephew that he could call him whenever he wanted or needed. He excused himself and answered the phone.  
A few moments later: “I am so sorry about that. I have to go. My nephew… He’s not taking it so well that his father and step-mother are going to have a child soon. He’s on his way to my apartment.” He explained how difficult it had been for LJ to adjust to living with his father and Sofia when his mother and step-father had died in a car accident two years before and how he had promised his nephew that he would always be there for him.  
Sara could hear the disappointment in his voice. She was disappointed too as she would have liked to spend at least a few more minutes with Michael but she understood the situation. Before the phone rang, she had also been wondering whether or not he would kiss her, whether she would kiss him…  
“Good night, Michael. I’ll see you on Friday.”  
“Good night, Sara.”


	7. Another random encounter on a Sunday evening

“I’m beginning to wonder if you aren’t stalking me after all!” The words were accusatory but her tone was definitely playful.  
“I could say the same thing about you!” He responded with a big smile.  
“You come here often?”  
“Well, my fridge was getting empty…”  
“I thought you were more organized than that, Michael. Doing your groceries on a Sunday evening?”  
“Blame my brother for that. He requested my help when I got there with my nephew this morning and what was supposed to be a simple job ended up lasting the whole day.”  
“Oh my god, what happened to your hand?” She suddenly had a concern look on her face.  
“You can blame Lincoln for that too! Let’s just say that he was a little too eager when he went to rip open a box of hardwood floors…”  
Michael finished packing his food in two big brown paper bags and was about to grab the second one when Sara saw him wince in discomfort. “Let me help you”, she offered moving to take the bag from his injured hand.  
“Thanks.”  
“No problem. You’re lucky, I forgot to buy eggs earlier today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been here to rescue you!”

 

They walked back to Michael’s apartment and Sara assisted him with his groceries.  
“Can I have a look?” She pointed at his hand.  
“Oh, you don’t have to, it’s fine.”  
“You’re a doctor now?” She had a crooked eyebrow and was clearly mocking him now.  
He held up his hands in front of him, surrendering: “Sorry, I’ll get you the first aid kit.”  
They both sat down on the couch and Sara disinfected the wound, put a new gauze in place and replaced the bandage. It was probably just routine for her but the close proximity of their bodies in addition to her attending to his hand made his heart beat faster. She was very gentle and had the softest hands. And while she focused on his palm, he focused on her, her face, her hair, how everything about her was perfect!  
“That’s better!” she said, proud of herself, and looked up to him. That’s when she realized that his eyes were on her lips.  
She had caught his gaze, there was no doubt about that, and he quickly collected his thoughts: “Do you think I will survive, Dr. Tancredi?”  
“You’d better. You are supposed to be my date on Friday, remember?” She was teasing him, maybe flirting a little bit.  
“How could I forget? So are you going to tell me what you’re going to wear at the gala?”  
“Nope.”  
“Come on, Sara! Not even a tiny clue?”  
“Okay, one clue: I am going to wear a dress.”  
“You’re going to wear a dress. That’s your clue? Sorry but I already knew that you were not going to wear these jeans!” He indicated with his uninjured hand the pair she had on.  
“What’s wrong with these jeans? I like them! And I think they’re okay”, she vehemently defended herself.  
She looked hurt and Michael felt really bad. “I’m so sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean it that way. You look very good… THEY look very good! It’s just that it was obvious that you were not going to go to a gala with a pair of jeans...” He looked at Sara hoping that she wasn’t completely mad with him and he saw it: the hint of a smile on her lips. “Wait! You’re not truly offended, are you?”  
She couldn’t refrain her laughter anymore. “You should have seen your face! It was priceless!”  
He scoffed. “You are mean, Sara, very mean, you know that? And here I thought you were a nice girl!”  
“I am a nice girl! I saved you from a probable death today! And as a further sign of my altruistic nature, I am offering you to pick you up for the gala on Friday.”  
“I thought you didn’t have a car.”  
“Well, my father usually sends a limo for me when he really wants me to attend an event.”  
“How very altruistic of you then, to offer me a ride in your father’s limo!”  
“Do you prefer to take a taxi?!”  
“No, no, the back of a limo sounds much better!” He blushed as he realized, too late, what they could do in “the back of a limo” and the potential sexual connotation that his comment carried.  
She stared at him, visibly thinking the exact same thing, and growing nervous too. “Well, it’s getting late, I should go. Take care of your hand, Michael.”  
Michael waved at Sara with his injured hand when she exited his apartment. “The back of a limo sounds much better”? Wow, can I be more transparent? Michael shook his head, disapprovingly, at his own poor choice of words.


	8. The gala

Apart from a few text messages (with pictures to show his healing hand!), Sara had not communicated with Michael during the week. She couldn’t wait to spend more time with him and she hoped he felt the same way!

 

She was, as promised, in front of his building at 6:00 pm. Michael left the edifice and acknowledged the driver who was ready to open the limo’s door for him.   
“Nice ride! Clearly better than my brother’s truck!” he chuckled.  
“A little more spacious, that’s for sure!” she laughed.  
Michael took a seat in front of Sara. He immediately noticed that she was wearing more make-up than usual and, while he liked her more “natural” style, he appreciated how it accentuated her already beautiful eyes and how sophisticated she looked. 

 

It only took then 10 minutes to reach their destination. They first got rid of their coats and Michael was finally able to admire what she was wearing, now that she didn’t have a long black coat on to hide everything. The dress fitted her perfectly and her high heels made her legs look even longer (and even more attractive, Michael thought). The sight was so captivating that it left him speechless for a few seconds. He probably had his mouth stupidly open the whole time. “Wow, Sara! You are absolutely stunning!”   
She was pleased with the compliment as she had thoughtfully planned her outfit (as well as her hair, make-up and jewels!) for the evening. “You don’t look bad yourself. When you said that you would be wearing black I never thought that you would be ALL black!” He was indeed wearing a black suit with a black shirt and a black tie. Somewhat he pulled it off and looked terribly handsome.  
“That was the safest. Imagine if I had picked a red tie, with your dark green dress, we would have looked like a Christmas tree!”   
She laughed out loud and, after a short moment, she said: “Let me see your hand!” She gently grabbed his right hand and examined it. “I don’t think we’re going to have to amputate!”  
“That’s a relief! So how often do you attend events like these?”  
“Not that often, maybe three or four times a year? My father says that it’s good for his image as a politician and a family man but between you and I, I think that he just uses these events as an excuse to see me more frequently.”  
“Hehe! You always talk about your father. What happened to your mother if you don’t mind me asking?”  
“She died when I was 12. Robbed and killed one evening.”  
“I’m really sorry.”  
“Thank you.” She paused before adding: “What about you? You only talk about your brother and nephew…”  
“My parents died when I was a child. Not at the same time. My father died on the job. He was a cop. He wasn’t in our life then. He left before I was born. My mother died of cancer a couple years later.”  
“I’m sorry, Michael. Wow, I guess that’s why it’s better not to talk about your family on a first date…”   
They looked at each other, not knowing what else to say. Really, there was nothing else to say. The silence was soon interrupted by none other than the Governor: “Sara, I’m glad you could make it! You look gorgeous, as usual!”  
“Thanks, Dad! Dad, let me introduce you to Michael. Michael, this is my father.”  
“Michael Scofield. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.”  
“Please call me Frank!” Michael was not sure he was ready to call Sara’s father Frank. He hesitated between “Governor”, “Mr. Tancredi” or, as he had just done so, “Sir”. “Michael, Sara told me that you’re an engineer?”  
“That’s correct.”  
“And where do you work exactly?”  
“I work for Pearson and Specter.”  
“I heard good things from Pearson and Specter. Tell me, Michael, what kind of projects did your firm recently take on?”  
“Well, we supervised the renovations at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.”  
“Excellent! I hope he did a good job, Sara”, the Governor winked at his daughter. “Michael, it was nice meeting you. Excuse me but you know how it is, I must go and rub elbows with all the VIPs! I’ll see you later.” Michael let out a small sigh of relief, glad that the interrogation hadn’t lasted long.  
“So you’re the one responsible for the terrible mess in the E.R. as well as in the cafeteria?! Months of utter chaos!” Sara had a discouraged look on her face as she remembered how bad it had been.  
“No, that would be the contracting company. We are responsible for how fantastic and more efficient your E.R. department is now! And how superb your new cafeteria looks.” Michael and his mischievous grin were back!  
Sara agreed -- the cafeteria looked much better now. The place had a certain something that appealed to her. However, she refused to let him win as easily so she only offered the following comment: “I’ll admit that the cafeteria is not bad.”  
“Not bad? That’s all? Man, I worked hard on this space! I tried to give it as much natural sun light as possible, while making sure that it didn’t feel oppressive even when it was crowded.”   
“Michael, I’m teasing you! I love the new cafeteria! It has actually become one of my favorite spots in the entire hospital. Granted, it’s also a place where I don’t have to see patients but I really enjoy the view with all the big bay windows. You really did work on the new layout?”  
“Yes, for weeks!”  
“In that case, thank you! You did a great job.”   
She smiled at Michael and led him towards tables on one side of the large ballroom. They each grabbed a flute of champagne on their way and took their time examining the various items on display for the silent auction that was supposed to take place that night. The items ranged from treat baskets to weekend packages but what caught their attention was a large framed reproduction of “Alastor”, the painting by Charline von Heyl that they had seen together at the Museum of Contemporary Art. They contemplated it for some time then walked away and found their table. They were sitting at the Governor’s table, which Michael found a little intimidating. Fortunately for him, the Governor seemed busy with the other (more important) persons at their table, discussing the merits of a new initiative to reduce poverty in the city. Dinner was interrupted by speeches by different dignitaries and they were both happy when it ended and they were able to leave the table.

 

“So did you grow up in Chicago, Michael?”  
“Yes, we moved a lot but it was mostly in the South Side.” Sara had often heard about the neighbourhood on the news because of the crimes that seemed to occur on a regular basis. “I doubt that you ever set foot there…”  
“Well, you’re right… It’s far from the Gold Coast”, she apologetically replied.   
Far in many ways, Michael thought. The Gold Coast was probably the richest neighbourhood in Chicago!  
“Who did you live with then? I mean, when your parents…” She didn’t finish her sentence.  
“We were placed in foster care when my mother died. We changed families quite often. I guess nobody wanted two energetic boys for too long.”   
“How old were you when she passed away?”  
“I was seven.”  
“That’s young.” After a short pause, she continued: “I don’t know you but I think that I could use a drink right now!”  
“Me too!”  
Michael was about to grab two glasses of champagne from one of the waitresses when Sara stopped him: “What do you say we get out of here? I think I’ve had enough people looking at me for one evening.”  
“They were looking at you? This whole time I was thinking it was for me!”  
“You’re very funny! They’re probably looking at you too. But you’re not the Governor’s only daughter…”  
“So do you really want to leave this place?”  
“Yes! Are you ready?”  
“Actually, there is one thing that I would like to check before we go, if you don’t mind.” Michael led them to the tables where the items for the silent auction were exhibited and halted in front of the reproduction of “Alastor”.  
“Are you sentimental all of a sudden?! Wanting to see the painting one more time before we leave?!” As Sara finished talking she realized that Michael’s eyes were on a piece of paper that was taped to the top right corner of the frame. “Michael, why is your name written on this paper?”  
“Because I bid on the painting?” he replied, embarrassed, having not expected to acquire the reproduction with his bid, therefore having kept it a secret until then. And now his name was on the piece of paper…  
“How much did you bid on it?” She looked at the paper more carefully and read the price: “You bid $1,000 on a framed reproduction that costs $100 at the most?!”  
“I like the painting and Charline von Heyl is my new favorite artist…” He answered with a sheepish grin.  
“You do realize that, when I asked you to join me for the gala, I didn’t expect you to participate in any of the fundraising activities, right?”  
“I know, I know. But an improved children’s hospital might become useful in the future… Besides, donations to charities are tax deductible and when you’re single and make quite a bit of money, giving to charities is a smart financial decision. I’m sure my accountant would be proud of me!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“You are aware that people are still staring at you, right? And here I don’t think it’s because they know that you’re the Governor’s daughter. But I mean, I can’t really blame them…”  
“Is that a compliment?”  
“No. A simple observation”, he replied with a shy smile.  
Sara blushed a little and decided to let the “not-a-compliment” go: “So, you mentioned that a children’s hospital might be useful in the future. Was it you implying that you want kids?”  
“Yes, that was me implying that I want kids. Someday.” He looked at her intently and asked in return: “Do you want kids, Sara?”  
“Yes, I do.” She briefly contemplated whether or not to continue on the topic. “You know, growing up as an only child, I always thought that I would want a big family of my own.”  
“How big are we talking about?”  
“Maybe four children!”  
Michael almost chocked on his beer. “Four? Wow, that’s… That’s a lot!”  
“Don’t worry, I don’t want four kids anymore, now that I am an adult and understand all the implications. But definitely more than one. I think that two would be good.”  
“Two is good. I liked growing up with a big brother. That was the best part of my childhood. Of course, my brother was perhaps also my worst nightmare, constantly teasing me and reminding me that I was his “little” brother. You know, being rough with me and all. That hasn’t changed much actually, he still finds ways to take advantage of me and even physically hurt me!” He showed his formerly injured hand.  
Sara could have kissed him right there and then. Not just because he had said that he wanted kids. Not just because he was intelligent. Not just because she liked (and shared) his values and sense of humour. Not just because, physically, she was terribly attracted to him. But all these reasons combined made Sara feel that she was more and more falling for this amazing man who had accosted her on a Saturday morning at the Starbucks near her home.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They shared a taxi that brought them in front of Sara’s building. Michael exited the vehicle first and held his hand to Sara. His gallant gesture was only meant to help her out of the car but Sara kept his hand in hers and moved closer to him until they were only inches apart. Michael’s heart skipped a beat.  
“Do you want to come in for a bit?” He just nodded once and smiled at Sara who then continued to walk towards the entrance door. They didn’t speak during the elevator ride and Michael tried to remain cool despite his mind being invaded by images of him pinning Sara against the wall and kissing her passionately. He hoped that his thoughts weren’t as loud as his breathing…

 

As soon as they were inside the apartment and they had taken their shoes off, to Sara’s delight in particular, she asked: “Do you want to drink something?”  
“Water would be great, thanks.” He definitely didn’t need more alcohol in his system. Being around Sara all evening (especially considering how gorgeous she looked) was enough to make his head spin.  
She poured two glasses and after handing him one she excused herself: “I’m going to use the bathroom. I won’t be long.”

 

“Interesting book collection you got here!” he said while pointing at the bookshelf behind him when she returned.  
“Do you really want to talk about literature right now?!” Her tone was teasing and Michael decided that he wasn’t going to resist anymore. He walked in her direction and took Sara’s left hand in his right, eventually closing the gap between them. She almost stopped breathing as his lips were about to touch hers, anxiously waiting for what was coming. He started by kissing her upper lip, then slowly moved to the bottom lip, before finally kissing her fully on the mouth. He was deliberately taking his time as if wanting to fully enjoy the moment. But Sara didn’t want to waste a minute more. She kissed him back and soon the sexual tension that had been building between them expressed itself as things quickly accelerated. The kiss became heated and hands began caressing every inch of body they could reach. When their lips touched, Michael forgot everything except Sara. However, after she had already discarded his suit jacket and had started to move to untuck his shirt from his pants, he was rapidly brought back to reality.  
“Sara, wait…” She seemed to ignore his request. “Sara, we can’t… I can’t…” Finally, he was able to articulate his thought: “I don’t have any protection with me!”   
To say that he didn’t want to stop would be an understatement and he was mentally kicking himself when he saw Sara turn on her heels and head towards what he assumed was her bedroom. Great, he thought sarcastically. She hadn’t said a word and Michael thought that she was probably mad at him for his lack of planning. In all honesty, he never anticipated that they would need anything that night. Before a few seconds earlier, they had not even kissed! A short while later, Sara was back with an expression that he couldn’t read. He still had his eyes on hers but his attention turned to what she was holding in her hand when she asked: “Will that work?” He looked at the small box that she was showing him and quickly nodded several times. Without saying a word, his left hand then delicately touched the side of her face while his right one found its way to Sara’s lower back to push her against his body. Finally, he connected his lips with hers. If their first kiss had started slowly and gently, this one was full of intensity from the beginning. The box of condoms that was in Sara’s hand was soon dropped and with her two free hands she hastily turned to Michael’s tie. Eventually, after several minutes of intense kissing, with tongues involved and hands roaming freely, Sara broke the kiss and asked: “Bedroom?” He agreed and she led him to her room, but not before he stretched his left arm to grab the precious box that was on the coffee table.

 

Once in her bedroom, Sara locked her hands behind Michael’s neck and crashed her lips on his. Michael kissed her back with passion and, after gently throwing the box on the bed, let his hands travel on her body. She soon started to unbutton his shirt, starting from the top, and, once it was fully undone, helped him out of it. While Sara was reveling in the direct contact of her hands with his toned chest and back, which she didn’t refrain from stroking, Michael found the zipper of her dress and expertly opened it. Then, slowly, he undressed her and the dress fell on the floor. Seeing Sara almost naked made Michael’s arousal increase. He wanted her. He needed her. Now. Sara shared his anticipation and directed her hands to his belt and pants. Soon they were lying on the bed in their underwear. Michael, on top of her, briefly admired how perfect Sara’s body was and started leaving a trail of wet kisses on her neck. His right hand played with the strap of her black bra for a second before he resumed his kissing and began brushing her breasts with his fingers. A soft moan escaped Sara’s mouth as he teased her through the thin layer of fabric. He continued tantalizingly touching her, moving from one nipple to the other, and loving the reaction he was causing. Eventually not wanting to prolong the torture, he got up on his knees, taking Sara along with him, and he unclasped her bra, taking his time removing it completely. They stayed in that position for a moment, ardently kissing and caressing each other’s body, before he leaned forward with her in his arms. The heat kept rising in Sara’s bedroom and Michael’s left hand wandered on the bed to look for the condoms that he had sent flying earlier. However, instead of grabbing the box he only managed to push it off the bed.  
Sara chuckled: “Are you struggling with the condoms, Michael?”  
Michael rested his head on her shoulder. “Damn, I was trying to be smooth…”  
Sara decided to taunt him: “Too much excitement maybe?”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” With that, he quickly got off Sara to reach for the box that was on the floor and even more quickly returned to his initial spot. “Sorry about the interruption”, he said, his lips lightly brushing hers. They kissed with passion and their desire soon led them to remove the last barrier between their bodies and to use what was in the box that Sara had fortunately bought earlier that day. The first time they made love that night left them out of breath and speechless for a good minute. Sara recovered faster and said: “WOW!”. Michael could only concur: “Yeah!” The second time lasted longer and left them very sweaty. “I could really eat ice cream right now!” Michael laughed out loud at Sara’s idea.


	9. Wake up!

Sara entered her room, started to get dressed and eventually took a moment to contemplate the man in her bed. Michael was still asleep, lying on his stomach. A simple sheet was covering his lower body and allowing her to see (and appreciate) a great view of his naked back and arms. She briefly let her mind wander to the night they had spent together. Their first night together. God, she hoped it would only be the first one of many! She was already missing him, his fingers touching her, his lips on hers (and on other parts of her body…). Why did she have to do this? She sighed, regretting what she was about to do. She gently touched his arm and whispered: “Michael, wake up.” He didn’t show any sign that he was waking up yet so Sara repeated, this time a little louder.  
“Hum, what is it?” His voice was sleepy but his eyes were opened and now focused on Sara who was sitting next to him. It took him a few seconds to realise where he was and why. Then he got confused as to why Sara was waking him up.  
“Sorry to wake you up but work called. They need me in the E.R. today. I have to go.”  
“Oh, okay”, he simply said, motioning to sit up in bed. He looked around and tried to locate his underwear as well as the rest of his clothes. 

 

A few minutes later, they were getting ready to exit the apartment when Michael commented: “Wow, only our first night and you’re already kicking me out… Clearly you don’t think last night was as amazing as I do…” he said with a serious look on his face. He wanted to joke about it but a part of him still felt like she was finding an excuse to throw him out.   
“I am not kicking you out. I told you: I’m needed at work today. Believe me, I would have preferred to stay in bed, with you, this morning!”   
She sounded sincere, Michael thought. “So you’re not going to refuse if I invite you to dinner tonight?” He was hopeful all of a sudden. Maybe she wasn’t kicking him out after all!  
She suddenly closed the gap between them and taking a teasing tone that was borderline flirtatious she questioned him: “I don’t know… Are you going to cook for me, Michael?”   
“No, I thought I would pop something in the microwave!” He finished his reply with a wink then continued: “Of course, I’m going to cook something for you.” His tone was as flirtatious as hers when he continued: “Have you seen my tie by any chance?”  
“Yes, I found it behind the couch this morning…” She had a mischievous smile as she handed him the piece of garment.   
This woman would be the death of him but he tried to remain cool. “Anything you don’t eat?”   
“No, I eat pretty much everything that would be considered regular food”. She smiled at him, already looking forward to their dinner, and not only for the meal that he was going to prepare for her. As for Michael, he couldn’t wait to see her again and kiss her and… Images of the night before, their first night together, came back to him while they were in the elevator on their way out of the building. What was with him and elevator rides?! He silently hoped that the elevator would get stuck between floors so that they could relive some of the moments of the night in her apartment but it never happened, leaving him desperately longing for their next encounter.


	10. Dinner

Michael opened the door of his apartment for Sara. Not wanting to relive the awkward moment at the restaurant with her friends when he didn’t know how they were supposed to say hi to each other, he decided to welcome her with a smile and simply let her in. She had changed since he last saw her in the morning. She was now wearing jeans and a black sweater. She was free of make up and her hair was in a ponytail. How did she manage to always be so gorgeous? He wanted to kiss her. Badly. But he wasn’t sure they were there yet so he continued to look at her and smile.  
“Here.” Sara handed him a paper bag. “I know you told me you were going to take care of everything but…” She was suddenly a little embarrassed by her bold choice.   
“Thank you.” Michael looked inside the bag and she saw his eyes get bigger and a smile form on his lips. “Hum, I see”, was all he said before going to the kitchen where he put the two ice cream containers in the freezer. From the kitchen, he asked: “What can I offer you to drink? I have wine, beer, San Pellegrino…”  
“You know what? I think I’d rather have something without alcohol tonight. I am already tired; I don’t want to fall asleep before the end of our meal!”  
“Tired? Didn’t get enough sleep last night?!” Michael wasn’t sure how to greet her when she entered his apartment but he sure knew how to tease her!  
Sara rolled her eyes at his sassy comments. “I meant that I worked all week and worked all day today as well, without much of a break.” She saw his now innocent expression and could only smile before answering his initial question: “San Pellegrino would be great, thank you.”   
Michael handed her a glass and asked: “Are you hungry?”  
“Starving!”  
“Let’s start then!”  
Sara saw that the table was already set on his kitchen island. She sat on one of the high stools as he took from the fridge two plates that he had already prepared as appetizers. Michael inquired about her day, they talked about one patient or the other then moved to other topics of conversation, the flow never stopping. The main course was filet mignon with a mix of vegetables that had cooked in the oven with some herbs.  
“Michael, this is absolutely delicious!!” she said between two bites. “Seriously, can you tell me how come you’re not already married?!” She meant the question as a joke but instantly remembered her list of questions “not to ask on a first date but that you would like to know the answer to” and looked at him with a more serious expression than initially planned.  
“Ha,” he started. He immediately thought about her list as well and wasn’t sure how to answer her. “I guess I was never in a position where it was an option.” He looked at her, uncertain how his sentence had been perceived so he continued: “My latest girlfriend, well, we fortunately broke up before I could even think about it.”  
“Fortunately?!”  
“Yeah, it would have been a mistake.”  
“Why?”  
“That’s hard to answer briefly. We were not right for each other. Let’s just say that we shouldn’t have stayed together that long.”  
“What made you realize that?”  
“When I discovered that she was cheating on me?” Michael thought it was weird talking about his ex-girlfriend to Sara, which explained his hesitant answer.   
“Oh, that’s never good!” Sara tried to lighten the mood, aware that her initial question had led the conversation to something more profound than anticipated.  
“Believe me, that wasn’t good at all!”   
His tone was clearly sarcastic and Sara now wanted him to continue: “What happened?”   
“Well, I was new at the firm and I was working crazy hours trying to make a name for myself and finally I had been able to finish work early so I decided to surprise her…” Michael scratched the back of his head, thinking of how ridiculous the story was. “We didn’t live together. She was often away for work but I had a key to her apartment and hum, I… I found her with someone else…”  
“You mean WITH someone else?!”  
“Yep.”  
“No!”  
“Oh yeah. It took me a long time to erase the image from my memory!”  
Sara couldn’t help it, she started laughing. “I’m sorry, Michael. I know it’s not funny…” She didn’t finish as laughter took over.  
Michael waited for her to calm down before stating: “Well, it’s kind of funny actually. You would think it’s a scenario coming directly from a bad romantic comedy!”  
“A very bad romantic comedy! More seriously, did she break your heart?”  
“No, I wouldn’t say that.”  
“No?”  
“After much introspection, I came to the realization that I loved the idea of her, of us. But that I didn’t love her. Not really. She did break my trust though. As well as my self-esteem.”   
“What happened to her and the guy she was with, if you don’t mind me asking?”  
“No, it’s okay. I’m okay now. They got married and last time I heard they were expecting a child.”  
“Wow!”  
“I know, right? At least something good came out of that fiasco!” Michael chuckled a little bit before adding: “My brother never liked her. I guess he saw something that I couldn’t.”  
“Maybe, yeah.” Sara felt bad for Michael but she was even more curious. “When was that then?”  
“About three years ago, I would say.”  
“You’re telling me that you’ve been single for the last three years?”  
“Well, I went on a few dates. I’m not that pathetic!” Michael looked up and met Sara’s eyes. She was smiling at him. He continued with a smile of his own: “I was regularly forced on blind dates either by some of my colleagues or by my brother but it never worked out. My brother even tried to set me up with a woman while we were in Costa Rica! He thought that if he could meet his girlfriend in there maybe I could too.”  
“And?”  
“We had a great time!”   
His answer sounded sincere, which confused Sara. “But…?”  
“But there was something missing, you know? The little spark?” He looked Sara in the eyes again, hoping she would get the underlying message. “We’ve become friends since. I usually see her every time I go there.”  
“How often do you go there?”  
“Once or twice a year. I own a house there actually!”  
“You do?!”   
“My brother often goes there for his job so he eventually bought a house. I used to stay with him when I visited but when he met his girlfriend I decided that I wanted my own place.”  
“Why? Were they loud?!”   
“You could say that!” He laughed and Sara joined him. “My nephew regularly crashes at my place when I’m there… So yeah, I bought a house, nothing fancy but I like it.” Michael suddenly got up and moved to the living room where he showed her a large frame with a picture of a beach, white sand and palm trees: “This is the view from my front porch.” Michael wasn’t one to brag about anything but he particularly liked the view from his house in Costa Rica.  
“Wow!” Sara couldn’t detach her gaze from the picture. It looked like a post card. Everything about it was perfect, the colours, the light. “I’m surprised that you can leave this place. It’s beautiful!” She looked at Michael and noticed that he was now closer and staring at her, with a smile on his lips. He thought she was beautiful. She became self-conscious, feeling her cheeks becoming a little hot suddenly, and decided to talk to mask her nervousness: “What do you do when you’re here then?”  
He sat down and answered: “I have found someone to look after the house. He’s a university student there. I met him when he was in high school and my house is closer to the campus than where his family lives so it makes sense. He has a place to live and study (he has a LARGE family so I think he enjoys the quiet) and I have a person to make sure that my house is taken care of. He visits his family when I’m in town. It’s a win-win situation, really.” He finished his explanation with a proud smile.  
“When is the last time you went there?”  
“Last summer. I spent two weeks.”  
“What do you do when you’re there and not going on blind dates then?” A little bit of teasing wouldn’t hurt, would it, she thought.  
“Hahaha! I volunteer for an NGO that helps build or renovate schools. That’s how I met Chaco, the young man looking after my house. It was his summer job. They always have a new project and I help them in any capacity I can. I relax too, don’t worry. But enough about me! Where did you go when you last left the city?”  
“I went to Haiti a few months ago.”  
“Oh!” Her answer clearly surprised him. “I bet you didn’t go for the beaches…”  
“No, I went with Doctors without Borders. There’s so much to be done there. I’ve never worked in conditions like these, no running water, sometimes no electricity. But somebody has to do it, right?”  
“Yeah, yeah”, Michael answered, pensive. She sure wasn’t your typical rich girl, he thought. He looked at her again and his eyes fell on her lips. He thought again about kissing her but he didn’t dare to. He clearly remembered the night they spent together but he also had in mind that they parted in front of her building in the morning with a simple “good bye” and no kiss. Hence, his hesitation to do anything, even if he desperately wanted to. On top of things, they were in the middle of their meal and he wasn’t sure if it was the right moment. He was evidently overthinking things but couldn’t help it. He opted to continue the conversation in an attempt to distract him from his increasing desire. “So, any former boyfriend stories that you would like to share?” It was his turn to be curious. She did not hesitate to question him so it was only fair that he returned the favor.  
“Well, my last long relationship, we met when we were in Med school and we were still together when we started at the hospital...”  
“Why didn’t it work out?”  
“We had different priorities.”  
“About…?”  
“In short, he wanted me to quit working so that we could start a family?”  
“What?!” His eyes were big. He was incredulous. “How could someone ask you that? I mean, you didn’t go through Med school just for the fun of it.”  
“Exactly! So, yeah, needless to say, we broke up…”  
“I’m sure you broke his heart: He probably had already planned having you as his trophy wife!”   
His sarcastic tone wasn’t lost on Sara who played along with him: “Right. Because it’s always been my dream! I’m sure you’re dying to be somebody’s trophy husband!” She was staring at him with a challenging look.  
“Oh absolutely! But only if it’s the right wife!” Michael looked at Sara, never breaking eye contact. “More seriously, I would probably miss work. I think that I would be bored out of my mind, waiting for my 15 minutes to shine as a trophy husband…” He finished with a small chuckle and decided to continue interrogating her: “So, besides Mister “I want a housewife”, anyone worth mentioning?”  
“I dated a few men but it quickly became apparent that most of them were only interested in me to advance their own career, using me to get to my father. So, to answer your question, no, no one worth mentioning…”  
“Really? I have a hard time believing that you are not asked out on a date every day.”   
“You would be surprised!” She giggled at her own answer, considering of her rather inexistent love life.  
Michael was surprised, she was right. How could a woman like her be single? She was perfect! Absolutely perfect. He wanted to tell her that they were all idiots, that he loved that she was a physician, that she was funny and beautiful and that he would have been really disappointed if she had been taken when he met her. This time, he decided that he wasn’t going to hold back. He got back up and slowly closed the gap between them to connect his lips with hers. He only intended to give her a short kiss but Sara quickly reacted to his move, standing up and locking her hands behind his neck, while she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Michael’s hands found their way to her waist and held her close the whole time. A phone ring broke the spell (and their kiss). Michael regretfully untangled himself from Sara and checked his phone. “Sorry, my brother… I’m sure he’s going to leave a message.” He had a shy smile which Sara returned and she replaced a piece of hair that had fallen on her face. He put the phone back on the counter.  
“Aren’t you going to listen to the message?”   
“Later”, he mumbled. His brother always had a perfect sense of timing! “Ready for dessert?” He had forgotten that she had had the same idea as him and he blushed when he remembered it. “Hum, I think that we’re going to be okay for dessert…” He opened the freezer and showed her the four little ice cream containers.   
Sara looked at him and nodded, clearly amused but blushing all the same: “I guess great minds think alike?”   
They worked together to clean everything up and Sara couldn’t help but observe him while he was focused on molding the ice cream into two perfect scoops. He looked so good simply wearing a pair of jeans and a grey tee-shirt. She had to admit that she was enjoying observing him and that the more she learned about him, the more she fell for him. And the way he kissed her, well, that was enough to make her feel weak in the knees. She also had flashbacks of the night before and let’s just say that the cold ice cream was going to be much appreciated. That is if she could manage to forget the conversations they already had about ice cream, on the first day they met and the night before, right after “round 2”. Maybe the ice cream wouldn’t help with her currently feeling hot after all…

 

“Can I taste it?” Sara asked after they each had started their ice cream. Michael lifted his spoon and pushed his bowl in Sara’s direction. She didn’t react at first but then made a face and declared: “Way too sweet!”  
“Well, that’s part of the appeal!”  
“Do you want to try?” Sara indicated her own bowl.  
“No, thank you. I told you, I really don’t like anything with chocolate and chocolate ice cream is as chocolaty as you can get…”  
“Come on, you have to try it. It’s absolutely delicious!” Michael didn’t want to give in but Sara had other plans: “I tried yours”, she started with a flirtatious voice, “you have to try mine…” She seductively licked her spoon to seal her argument.   
“Okay…”, Michael started. Emboldened by the kiss that they exchanged only minutes before, and even more turned on by her most recent actions, Michael stood up, spoon in hand. However, instead of taking a tiny bit of her ice cream with his spoon, he decided to kiss her, on the lips, tasting the ice cream in the process and taking his time to savour the moment. “You’re right: it’s delicious”, he said, winking at her. Sara simply shook her head, evidently surprised but nonetheless amused. 

 

They finished their ice cream and, after he had put the bowls in the kitchen sink, Michael offered: “Do you want to go outside? The view from the roof is great!” He sounded really enthusiastic.  
“Why don’t we go on the balcony instead? The view looks good too”, Sara answered back.  
“I can’t really go on the balcony…” he admitted. He knew that he had to continue his explanation because it didn’t make much sense as it was. “I know it’s completely irrational and I know it’s safe but it scares me to no end to think about standing on the balcony.” Michael seemed embarrassed by his own confession.  
“So you’re telling me that you have a fear of heights but you bought this apartment despite knowing that it had a balcony?” Sara didn’t understand and found it amusing to grill him. It was comical if you really thought about it.  
“When I bought the place, it was still under construction so I couldn’t really visit the place. Otherwise, I might have decided against it! But I can go on the roof so do you want to come?”

 

They both put their jackets on and were almost on their way out when Michael grabbed a blanket from the closet as well as something else from his messenger bag that he put in his jacket. They walked in the corridor and climbed up the stairs until he opened a door and they found themselves on the roof. Michael guided her to one side of the building and they faced the view that was the same as the one from his balcony, except a little higher. He gallantly opened the blanket and put it around Sara’s shoulders. She smiled at him, appreciating the attention and the warmth that it provided.   
Sara looked at him as he put his hands in his pockets and took the item that he had picked from his bag. Identifying what it was, her expression instantly changed, from comfort and happiness to anger and disappointment. That’s how fast it was. Her tone didn’t offer much room for discussion when she talked: “I’m going to stop you right here!”   
Michael was about to open a black eyeglasses case when he heard Sara’s words and angry tone. “What?” he asked, not having a clue of what had prompted such a reaction from her.   
“I know what you’re going to do and I think that you should stop right now. I don’t want any part with it.”  
“I don’t know what you think I have in that case but it’s not…”  
Sara cut him. “Please, Michael.” She was angry but she was even more disappointed. She then continued: “I should have seen it coming. It was too good to be true. I mean, it was perfect. You were perfect, for God’s sake!”  
“Listen, Sara. I have no idea what’s going on but I’m going to do what I was about to do and then you’re going to explain why you are freaking out, okay?” Michael opened the case, took the black rimmed Ray Ban glasses that were inside and put them on.   
All the while, Sara was looking at him, realizing her mistake and becoming embarrassed like never before in her whole life. “Oh God…” She felt herself blushing, even in the cold November evening breeze. She wanted to disappear. Ideally, she wanted to erase the last two minutes but unless you have a time ship it was unlikely to happen so… “I am SO sorry, Michael. I thought… I thought that you…” She was too ashamed to continue.  
“What could you possibly think?!” He looked at her through his glasses, still uncertain what it was all about but relieved that Sara seemed to be less angry.   
“You’re going to think I’m crazy…” Michael didn’t say a word, waiting for her to continue, but most likely thinking that she was a little bit right. “When I was in my first year of Med school, I was working on a lab report with two other students, a guy and a girl, and one day, we were all tired and wanted a break so this guy got up, rummaged through his bag and eventually showed us an eyeglasses case. He opened it and…” This was really humiliating! Sara lowered her head and hid her face in her hands. “And there was pot inside! He wanted us to smoke pot!” She finally found some courage to look Michael in the eyes. She wasn’t clear what his expression was. Then she saw it: he was trying really hard to suppress a smile! “You think it’s funny?!”  
“Well, it is!” He chuckled but soon became serious again: “So you didn’t think that I could simply wear glasses but imagined that I brought you here to smoke pot?!”  
“I’ve know you for a few weeks now and you never wore glasses!”  
“Because I only need them to see things that are far…”  
“You didn’t wear them when we went to see Jaws or when we went to the gala!” Her tone was accusing. It didn’t make any sense: if he needed glasses then, why didn’t he wear them?  
“I forgot to bring them when we went to the movie theater together.”  
“You forgot?”  
“Listen, they were in my bag and when I realized that I had forgotten them, I didn’t want to be late so I decided not to go back.”  
“But you could have said something…”  
“Hey, it’s not like I’m blind. I can see. It’s just that things are not as clear as they could be.”  
“And the gala?”  
“I didn’t feel like wearing glasses all evening.” Sara eyed him suspiciously. “What? Do you know how annoying it is to wear glasses?”  
She shook her head. “I don’t mind wearing sunglasses all day in the summer when I’m outside.”  
“Me neither but that’s not the point. Sunglasses are different! Are you forgetting that I am not at fault here? I wear my glasses whenever I want or don’t wear them if I feel like it.” This whole situation was ridiculous. Their so far great evening had taken a turn for the worse in a matter of minutes.   
“Look, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusions.” Michael looked away, choosing to focus on the sight in front of them instead. They were silent for a moment. Sara’s voice eventually brought him back from his confused thoughts: “You know, you are kind of sexy with your glasses.” It was a compliment and an apology all in one.   
Michael saw her looking at him with a sincere (and very cute) smile and he couldn’t be mad at her anymore. “Well, you are kind of hot when you’re angry”, he replied with a smile of his own. Sara let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. They were going to be okay. She almost ruined everything but they were going to be okay. Michael found comfort in their latest exchange as well. They just had their first “fight”, if you could call that a fight, but they survived. “Going back to something that you said earlier, sorry to disappoint you but I’m not perfect.” He shook his head to emphasize his next words: “My eyesight is not perfect.” He had the biggest grin then, clearly proud of his ability to make fun of her and help them go back to their regular teasing.  
She felt herself blush for another time that evening. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had blushed in front of anyone and it seemed that she couldn’t stop herself from blushing in front of him! Did she really say that he was perfect? “God, this is absolutely mortifying!” She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.  
“Don’t be too harsh on yourself. I actually find it refreshing to know that you are not perfect either.” Sara gave him a curious look. “For one, you are rather impulsive!”  
“Okay, okay. I deserve that. I guess I underestimated how that guy traumatized me with his eyeglasses case posing as a pot holding place. Again, I’m so sorry, Michael.” Michael was teasing her; she could tease him back: “On the other hand”, she started, “if I hadn’t been impulsive, I wouldn’t have invited you to watch Jaws…”  
“Touché.”  
“Just out of curiosity, would you have asked me out?”   
“First, I am the one who talked to you first! And second, yes, I like to think that I would have asked you out.” He smiled at Sara and added: “Not that I want to change the subject but, despite what you initially thought, I had very pure intentions when I brought you here.” He guided Sara to the other side of the building where he stopped to show her something in the distance. “Can you see? The tall building on the left?”  
“Is it…?”  
“Yes, that’s your building! I can see you from here!”  
“Well, wow, that’s… that’s creepy!” She looked like she had a shocked look on her face but he knew better by now than fall for one of her tricks to make him feel bad.  
“Don’t worry, I promise that I won’t use binoculars to spy on your every move!” He playfully replied and nudged her shoulder with his. His gaze was serious when he declared: “You’re so beautiful!”  
Sara looked at him with intense eyes and turned her body in his direction in order to be able to completely face him. His eyes went from her eyes to her lips and to her eyes again. He took one step in her direction. She also took a step in his direction and opened the blanket that she had around her. She was inches away from him now and closed her eyes when Michael’s lips were about to touch hers. She quickly enveloped him in the blanket and deepened the kiss in an instant. They kissed for several minutes, Michael’s hands finding the little space between Sara’s sweater and her pants and then moving up her body, eliciting soft moans from her. Meanwhile Sara was caressing Michael’s face and head, enjoying the feeling of his short hair under her fingertips. She moved even closer to him, so that there was no space between their bodies and they continued kissing. Eventually, the blanket fell from her shoulders and, besides the cold air, Sara was able to notice something else: “Is that your eyeglasses case that I can feel in your pants or...?”  
Michael moved away from Sara a bit, looked at her and, without giving anything, answered back, very seriously: “My case is in my jacket.”  
“Maybe we should get back down then, before this”, she indicated his crotch with her right index finger, “goes down”.  
“You know, you’re definitely not perfect. You could really work on your sense of humour!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara woke up lying on her back with Michael’s head on her shoulder and his right arm on her waist. He was still deeply asleep but Sara was most definitely not. She had been woken up by some unidentified noises. She wasn’t completely sure but she thought that she had heard a door close and voices.   
“Michael, wake up.” He barely moved, emitting a low groan and tightening his grip on her. Now she was sure: she could hear a man’s voice. She poked him and repeated: “Michael, wake up! We’re not alone.” Michael finally registered what she was saying and lifted his head to listen better.  
“Oh shit!” That was all he said before suddenly, like a cat, he jumped out of bed, found his boxers and quickly exited the room. Sara had no idea what was going on.

 

“What are you doing here?” The question was directed at Lincoln who was walking in his direction.   
“And good morning to you too, Michael! I called you last night, telling you that we were coming this morning to go to Ikea.” Michael looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Were you sleeping? Did we wake you up?”  
“I’m sorry, Linc, but I won’t be able to join you today.”  
“Why not? We can wait for you to get dressed and we even brought breakfast!” Lincoln was so excited about the prospect of getting new furniture for the baby’s room that he hadn’t noticed his brother’s unusual reluctance, which LJ had understood however.  
“Dad, I think that Uncle Mike is not alone.” He pointed at the women’s boots in the entrance and at the two jackets on the couch.   
Lincoln finally connected the dots. “Is that right, Mike? You’re not alone? What’s her name? Maybe she would like to join us?” Lincoln enjoyed tormenting his brother and that was the perfect occasion!  
“Out! Now!” Michael pushed his brother towards the entrance of the apartment where LJ was still standing. He opened the door, grabbed the bag of pastries from LJ’s hands, told them to have fun and closed the door behind them.

 

The whole exchange had only lasted a few minutes and Michael soon came back in the bedroom with his phone in one hand and the bag of pastries in the other. He let out a big sigh of relief and joined a very intrigued Sara under the sheets. “That was close but at least I got us breakfast!” Michael let his head fall in the pillow for a second before raising himself on his elbow. “You remember the phone call from my brother yesterday?” Sara nodded. “Well, it turns out, he was calling to let me know that he was coming this morning at 8:30.”   
Sara looked up at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand behind Michael. It indicated 8:52 am. “I guess we should be grateful that he wasn’t punctual.”   
“What we should be grateful is that he didn’t make it to the bedroom!”  
“Do you think he would have entered the bedroom without warning?!” Sara briefly regretted not getting dressed when Michael left the room, her arms and shoulders above the sheets revealing her current state underneath.  
“Oh I’m sure of it. He was on his way here when I stopped him!” Michael got closer to Sara and touched her exposed shoulder with the fingers of his right hand. He realized that she was still naked and chuckled. “That would not have been good! I’m pretty sure that I won’t hear the end of it already but seeing you like that would have been worse!” Michael leaned in and softly kissed her right shoulder.   
“I thought for a second that it was payback for yesterday…” Sara’s left hand moved to Michael’s back and started caressing him.  
“For what? For unceremoniously waking me up at dawn and then throwing me in the street half naked?” He pushed the sheets lower so that her breasts were now almost uncovered, letting his fingers trail down. Despite the layers between his hand and her body, Sara couldn’t help but shiver under his touch.  
“You’re not exaggerating at all, are you?” Her hand travelled up and found his face. She gently stroked his cheek with the palm of her hand.  
“Me? Never!” He leaned in and closed the distance between them, capturing her soft lips in an instant.  
Sara quickly broke the kiss: “Maybe next time you should listen to your messages if we want to avoid a very rude wake up call…”   
“Sorry, I was a bit distracted yesterday…” He kissed her again, lifting the sheets a little and moving closer to her.  
“Distracted huh?” That time, Sara was the one who kissed him and they stopped their verbal exchanges, preferring to let their bodies do the talking.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

It was 11:05 when Sara woke up again. She was nestled in Michael’s arms, her head on the side of his neck. Michael seemed to be asleep. Her eyes fell on his torso and on a scar that started horizontally under his left pectoral muscle to continue perpendicularly to his ribs. It was probably 20 centimeters long in total. She couldn’t think of any medical conditions that would result in such a scar and the physician in her grew curious.   
Michael opened his eyes to see Sara’s gaze on him and on his scar more precisely. He knew what she was going to ask him when she delicately touched the white line. He heard her voice: “How did you get this?” He wasn’t sure how to answer. On the one hand, he didn’t want to burden her with his (shitty) past. On the other hand, she was special and he felt that she deserved to know the truth, however somber it might be. He took a large inspiration and started: “Well, this might not be pretty but this is the best scar that ever happened to me.” Michael looked at Sara and saw kindness in her eyes. “I was with this foster father for some time. He became violent when he drank, which was quite often actually. One day, I had enough. I figured that, one way or the other, things needed to change. So I pushed him.” He paused for a second to look at her. She could probably guess where this was going but he continued. “I talked back and he got mad, really mad. Despite my intentions, at some point, I got scared and I tried to leave the room but I only managed to make his liquor bottle fall on the floor. God, he became furious. He grabbed the cap of the bottle and he just yanked the broken end towards me. I was only wearing a tee-shirt and it cut right through it. He didn’t hit me after that, which was unusual for him. I guess seeing all the blood freaked him out. He probably thought I was going to die or something. So he took me to the hospital, child services were involved and I never saw him again. I got lots of stiches because of the cut but ended up spending two wonderful weeks in the hospital. They couldn’t put me with another family until I wasn’t completely healed so they kept me in the hospital the whole time with the staff looking out for me, bringing me ice cream, lolly pops and all kinds of treats while I was there.” He finished the story with a small smile.   
Sara had tears in her eyes and didn’t know what to say. Words felt inadequate. “I’m so sorry, Michael”, she finally whispered. She then gave gentle kisses on the length of his scar, eventually moving up and kissing him fully on the lips.


	11. Text messages

Sunday, 5:48 pm  
“Are you out of bed or still “busy”?” Michael knew that this was coming. For some reason, Lincoln had always loved to make fun of his little brother’s love life but he never had the chance to find Michael in such a compromising situation before so what had happened that morning was for Lincoln like a beautiful Christmas gift wrapped in shiny paper and with a huge bow on it!  
Michael didn’t bite. “I hope you found everything you needed at Ikea.”  
“I hope you used protection!”  
“You’re terrible. *angry face*”  
“I love you too bro!”  
“How much did you pay her?”  
“It’s not funny.”  
“So are you alone?”  
“Yes.”  
“She finally came to her senses!”  
“Ha ha. Still not funny Linc.”  
“FYI you can invite her for Thanksgiving if you want.”   
“Don’t know yet what she’s doing for Thanksgiving.”  
“Been too busy having sex?!!! Good job Mike!”  
“Stop!”  
“I mean it. For Thanksgiving and for the other thing too ;)”  
“Will keep you posted. (For Thanksgiving)”  
“Sounds good. But feel free to keep me posted for everything else! lol”  
“Okay. Have to go back to my cooking. Say hi to everyone for me.”  
“Will do. Take care Mike.”  
“You too.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Monday, 12:15 pm  
Sara was having lunch with her colleague Sam in the cafeteria at Northwestern Memorial Hospital when she received a text message from Michael. It had a picture of the Governor and his daughter attached to it. It was from a newspaper article about the gala. Michael’s text read: “Found this in the lunch room today. Man, your father looks gooooood!” Sara laughed out loud and was faced with a very curious Sam. Of course, Sam being Sam, Sara had to explain how her weekend with Michael unfolded… She tried to play it cool but Sam could tell from the little spark in Sara’s eyes that this guy was special for her friend.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Tuesday, 7:32 pm  
Sara had been home for less than 30 minutes when she received a text message from Michael. It also had a picture attached to it. “This was delivered earlier today. What do you think?” It showed his newly acquired framed reproduction of “Alastor” on top of his bedroom drawers.  
“Looks very good!”  
“:)”  
“Still can’t believe that you paid $1000 for it though!”  
“But it looks good right?”  
“Right. Sure it’s okay for me to join you for Thanksgiving?” They had talked on the phone the night before and, upon knowing that her father would be out of town for the week, Michael had invited her to spend Thanksgiving with him.  
“100% sure. There’s no way you’re spending Thanksgiving alone! Scared of meeting my family and friends?!!”  
“Scared? Absolutely not!”  
“Looking forward to it!”  
“Me too :)”  
Truth be told, Michael was also a bit nervous about bringing Sara to Thanksgiving at his brother’s house. Not because he didn’t want to introduce her to his family and friends. On the contrary, he was very excited to have them meet Sara. She was amazing. They were going to like her, he knew it. Simply because who wouldn’t? What scared him a little though was how his family and friends were going to behave. He just hoped that they (and by they, he mostly thought about Lincoln and his friend Sucre) would not utter too many inappropriate comments in front of her…

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Wednesday, 9:24 pm  
“How’s work?”  
“Slowing down a bit. Finally.”  
“Need to get to my brother’s early tomorrow to build the furniture he bought at Ikea this weekend. Okay for you too?”  
“Sure. Do you need an assistant?”  
“It depends… Are you going to wear something sexy?”  
“????”  
“You know every magician needs a sexy assistant!”  
“You’re not a magician!!”  
“Well I’m good with my hands…”  
“Get your mind out of the gutter!”  
“Who is thinking about sex here?!! I was thinking about building furniture!”  
Sara was too stunned to answer immediately. He was right: she had her mind exactly where he suggested… However, she never liked to let him win in their verbal matches so she countered: “Yeah right…”  
“I’m offended that you’re thinking otherwise.”  
If Michael had been with her, he would have heard her snicker after reading his latest message. She might have been thinking about sex but he surely thought about it too. He probably enjoyed playing with the double entendre of the expression. Sara was happy that nobody was in the room to see her blush when she thought about her weekend with Michael and how good with his hands he was. She let out a breath to try to recompose herself and typed: “Yeah I can see your angelic face from here.”  
“You’re spying on me now?” Sara suspected that he probably had the cutest grin while he was writing back.  
“Good night, Michael. I’ll see you tomorrow.”   
“See you tomorrow, Sara.”  
Sara put her phone back in her pocket and went out of the physicians’ lounge with a small smile on her lips. That’s one of the things that she liked about him: his ability to make her smile, even when he wasn’t with her. Yep, she was definitely falling for him… The thought made her heart skip a beat. She was going to see him the next day and she couldn’t wait. She felt like a teenager again!


	12. Thanksgiving

Michael joined Sara at the train station. He had his hands full with a huge pumpkin pie that he had bought for dessert (Sara had brought a bottle of red wine that she was carrying in her big purse). Once again, Michael wasn’t sure how to say hello to Sara but she beat him to it and gave him a quick peck on the lips when he arrived. In this particular case, he was very happy that she was impulsive and not overthinking things like he tended to do! He would have wanted more than a short kiss but that would have to do for now. They sat down next to each other on the train and stayed in companionable silence for the duration of the ride. They briefly stopped on their way to Lincoln’s house to get beer (you can never get too much alcohol at a party, right?) and arrived at their final destination a little after 2:00 pm. Sofia came from the kitchen to greet them.  
“Hey, Michael! It’s good to see you.” She hugged him and then, turning to Sara and holding her hand in front of her, she added: “You must be Sara. I’m Sofia. Very nice to meet you.”  
“Very nice too meet you too, Sofia.” She shook her hand. Sofia’s genuine smile instantly put Sara at ease. “And thank you for inviting me.”  
“You’re very welcome. But don’t stay here. Linc is in the kitchen, helping me with the food. LJ went out to see a friend. He should be back soon.”

 

“Mike! I would hug you but I’m a little busy at the moment!” Lincoln had his hands on the turkey, trying to prepare it before putting it in the oven.  
“We’ll hug later I guess. Linc, this is Sara.” Lincoln took his eyes off the turkey and turned to look at Sara. “Sara, this is my brother Lincoln.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sara.”  
“Likewise, Lincoln.”  
“Glad you could join us.”  
“Thanks for the invitation.”  
Lincoln smiled awkwardly and continued: “Listen, Sara, about the other day. I’m really sorry about waking you up. I really thought that Michael was alone…”  
Sara had hoped that the topic wouldn’t come on the table but since it wasn’t meant to be, she might as well have fun with it (and with Lincoln). Retaliation maybe? Yeah, probably. “What are you talking about? That wasn’t me…”   
Sara kept a straight face the whole time and Lincoln got very confused. His brother had talked about inviting the woman he was with on Sunday morning, right? Was there someone else? His brother was always single and now he would have two women in his life in the same week? That was very unlikely. However, he didn’t know Sara and, despite his willingness to tease his brother, he didn’t mean to disrespect her. “I’m sorry. I thought that…” He didn’t finish as he saw the look on his brother’s face and then the one on Sara’s and understood that he had fallen into a trap. “Okay, okay, you got me!” Michael and Sara burst out laughing at the same time, soon joined by Lincoln and Sofia.   
“Sorry, Lincoln. It was too tempting. No hard feelings, I hope.”  
“No, no, don’t worry. You’re good, I’ll give you that but I’ll get my revenge!” Michael and Sara exchanged a knowing look and smiled at each other. Lincoln didn’t like not having the upper hand, especially in front of his brother, but he had to admit that Sara had won the first round. She wasn’t shy and she had a good sense of humour. He decided on the spot that he liked her.   
“Michael”, Sofia asked, “can you please put the pie and drinks in the fridge downstairs. There’s no more room here.”  
“Okay, no problem”, he answered back. Then to Sara: “You’re coming with me?”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

All Michael wanted was to be with Sara (and not let her with his brother because you never know). He had not seen her since Sunday and he had missed her. That was enough to make him forget that there were family pictures in the stairs leading to the basement.  
“Is that you here, Michael? Oh my god, you were so cute!” The picture was taken at Lincoln’s high school graduation and showed the two brothers next to each other, grinning proudly.  
“Puppies are cute”, Michael retorted with a pout.  
For some reason, Michael seemed embarrassed about the picture but Sara really found him adorable. “How old were you there?”  
“13 years old.”  
“13?!” Sara tried to mask the look of surprise from her face.  
“It’s alright, you can say it.” Sara remained silent so he stated: “I know, I was short.”  
“Well, a little…” She suppressed the smile that was menacing to escape her lips. She found it amusing to see how a (very) good-looking man like Michael could still feel insecure about his height as a teenager. “Fortunately for you, you eventually grew up!”  
“I thought I never would! I only hit my last growth spurt when I was 17. Believe me, it wasn’t easy being short all through high school…”  
“You mean that it wasn’t easy playing basketball?” Sara asked innocently.  
“Ha ha, you’re hilarious”, he replied with a mocking tone. “I meant with girls.”  
“You mean that girls didn’t like you?”  
“It’s not that they didn’t like me. It’s more that they didn’t look at me like a potential boyfriend, but rather considered me like their little brother, even though we were in the same class and were of the same age. I even often heard them say that I was cute!” He looked at her when accusing eyes.   
“Oops! At least, you were not in the chess club. That would have been terrible for dating.”  
Michael’s shoulders dropped and he put one hand on his eyes. “Wow, thanks for the reminder!”  
“I wasn’t talking about you, Michael!” Sara looked Michael in the eyes to make sure that he believed her. “You were on the chess club too? How did that work out for you with girls?”  
“Not very well! We were mostly boys and the girls, well, let’s just say that they were not my type.”  
“How diplomatic!”  
“You were really on the chess club in high school?”  
“Yeah. When I was 14. My father wanted me to learn chess so that he would have someone to play with. I didn’t last long though.” She finished her sentence and chuckled, anticipating that Michael would probably not like the rest of the story.  
“Why not?”  
“One, I didn’t like chess enough to be part of a club dedicated to it. And two, I realized that it wasn’t the ideal place to meet boys. At least, not the interesting ones.”   
“Thank you”, he sneered.   
“Sorry, Michael”, she said with an apologetic smile. “I was 14.”  
“And let me guess, you were already that tall when you were 14.”   
“Almost”, she confessed.   
“Well, it’s a good thing that I didn’t meet you in high school then! If we had been going to the same school, I would never have stood a chance, even if I was one year older. Short and on the chess club. Clearly not in the same league as the school’s hottest girl.” He shook his head in despair.   
Sara was amused by his defeatist attitude and flattered by the compliment. “Hottest girl, huh? Lucky you, you met me a few weeks ago...” She nudged him in the shoulder playfully and they continued to the laundry room where the fridge was located. They put the pie and beers in the fridge and made their way back up. Sara was on the second step of the stairs when she felt Michael’s hand grab hers from behind. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to see him standing on the first step. In an instant, his lips captured hers in a passionate kiss that was abruptly disturbed by none other than Lincoln!  
“Sorry, guys.” He didn’t look sorry in the slightest. “Sofia sent me to check on the laundry.” He gave them an innocent look as he passed by them. Michael was annoyed by his brother’s interruption but didn’t say anything. Sara found herself blushing once again, a new constant in her life since she met Michael apparently. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael opened the box that contained the crib for his future niece.  
“So why are you the one doing this and not your brother?” She indicated the open box and the other one standing against the wall in the room.  
“Lincoln has little patience for this kind of things…”  
It didn’t take Michael long to assemble the crib and he moved to the other box that contained the drawers. Not wasting a minute, he took everything out of the box and quickly scanned all the pieces. He was about to start when he heard Sara speak. “You’re not going to look at the instructions for this one either?”  
“Oh, it’s not necessary. It’s not very complicated.”  
“Is that an engineering thing? Because I’ve built furniture from Ikea and I can’t seem to do it without following the instructions.”  
“Maybe I’m a real magician after all!”   
“Yeah and you’re so good with your hands!”  
“Your words, not mine!” He chuckled and Sara shook her head but chuckled with him as well.   
They locked eyes for a second and Sara was about to take a step in his direction when they heard a voice behind them: “Uncle Mike! I got an A+ on my physics assignment.”  
“Hi LJ. Congrats!”  
LJ high fived Michael and, acknowledging the other person in the room, he politely added: “Hello Sara.”  
“Hi LJ. It’s good to see you again. Yeah, congratulations on the grade. That’s awesome.”  
“Thanks, Sara.” LJ had a very proud smile on his lips as he looked back and forth between his uncle and the woman with him. It’s been a long time since his uncle had brought a woman to a family event. He thought of Michael’s girlfriend from a few years ago and remembered how stiff she was. He didn’t find any other words to best describe her. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable around kids, he thought. In any case, he didn’t like her much. He shifted nervously on his feet thinking that, on the other hand, he liked Sara. He hoped that nobody noticed his cheeks getting hot at the thought and he quickly excused himself, mumbling something about getting ready for the party.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael finished assembling the drawers in a record time, which amazed Sara because she recalled how long it usually took her and how frustrated she always seemed to end up when it came to putting Ikea furniture together. Michael stood up, went to the bathroom and came back with two wet cloths to remove the dust from the new crib and drawers. Once everything was cleaned, they both went to the bathroom to put the cloths back and wash their hands. They returned to the baby’s room with a mattress and sheets for the crib and they quickly made the bed. Michael had explained how his friend Fernando’s 9-month-old daughter would probably use the crib later that night and they wanted the bedroom to be ready for her. They completed their task and, while Michael contemplated their work, Sara stood in front of him and, taking his face in her hands, connected her lips with his. Michael was surprised by Sara’s actions at first but quickly reacted to reciprocate the kiss. Sara’s hands rapidly moved to the back of his neck while Michael’s held her firmly at the waist. The intensity of the kiss soon escalated and made them forget about everything except for each other and the moment that they were sharing. After a few minutes, Sara broke the kiss. She had felt something pulsate (vibrate?) next to her thigh and that made her come back to reality.   
“Sorry about that”, Michael apologized. Sara’s confusion evaporated as he grabbed his phone from his jeans with his right hand, his left hand keeping Sara’s body close to him.  
“I thought for a second that we were re-enacting the events from the other night on your roof”, she teased, her hands never leaving their position.  
Michael didn’t have time to think about a humorous reply. He had just read the text message that had arrived in his inbox. It was from his brother and it read: “No funny business in my daughter’s room!” Michael was starting to be extremely irritated by his brother and his terrible sense of timing. At the same time, Lincoln’s clairvoyance was spot on. He showed the message to Sara who giggled at the sight. For once, she didn’t blush and it felt like a small victory in itself.   
“I guess we should…” She didn’t finish her sentence but Michael nodded. Sara took one step away from him and she used her hands to arrange her clothes and fix her hair that was a little disheveled by now. Michael checked his clothes as well. His shirt was a little wrinkled but there was nothing he could do about it. They looked at each other and locked eyes for a few seconds, the attraction between them almost irresistible. They both knew that they needed to go right away otherwise things might get out of control. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Lincoln: “So Sara, it’s a tradition of ours. Before we start eating, we need to say what we are thankful for. But there’s a twist: you need to say one serious thing and one less serious thing. Want to start with the serious stuff?”  
Sara: “Okay, sure…” She paused for a second before stating: “I’m thankful I am not working until Monday.” It was the first thing that came to her mind. She felt Michael lean next to her and whisper a “me too” that was inaudible to the rest of the group, not that they needed to hear anything to guess what he said. Michael’s breath on her ear made her shiver. Oh, the things that he could do to her… She hated that he made her feel like a horny teenager all over again. Come on, who was she kidding? She loved it! Her only problem was that she needed to refrain herself from jumping him right there and then. Secretly, she was thankful someone spoke up and distracted her from her inappropriate thoughts.  
Maricruz: “I’m thankful our daughter has finally decided to sleep through the night.”  
Fernando: “Hey, that’s what I was about to say!”  
Lincoln: “Sorry, Sucre. You’ll have to find something else!”  
Fernando: “I’m thankful Maricruz gave me this beautiful child.” He looked at his wife lovingly.   
Sofia: “I’m thankful the weather hasn’t been so bad this Fall.”  
Fernando: “It’s supposed to be serious, Sofia…”  
Sofia: “It is! I spent most of my life in a warmer climate. Chicago is not Costa Rica so when it’s not too cold in Chicago or we don’t have snow by the end of November, I am thankful.” She shrugged as she finished her explanation.  
Lincoln: “I’m thankful the family is going to get bigger soon.” He turned to Sofia and gave her a quick peck on the lips.  
LJ: “I’m thankful Maria agreed to be my partner for our Spanish assignment.”  
Lincoln: “Maria?! Do I know her? Is she a good student?”  
Sofia: “Linc…” She wanted him to drop the subject, at least for now. She nonetheless liked how protective Lincoln was with LJ and she knew he would be the same with the baby.  
Lincoln, mumbling: “Let’s hope they work on their Spanish assignment and not on something else…”  
Michael, interjecting: “I’m thankful that I’m going to be an uncle again.” Sara looked at him and saw a sincere smile on his lips. She had let her gaze stay on his lips and that was a mistake. Now she wanted to kiss him. Well, she always wanted to kiss him. She settled for moving her chair closer to him and letting her hand fall on his thigh. She was delighted to feel his hand above hers soon after, his fingers gently stroking her knuckles. “I think that I was the last one so now on to the less serious stuff… Who wants to start?”   
Sofia: “I’m thankful I don’t have crazy cravings like you had, Maricruz!”  
Lincoln: “Me too!”  
LJ: “I’m thankful I soon won’t be the youngest one in the family!” Lincoln looked at his son and smiled. He knew that the situation had been difficult for LJ at first and he was happy that he was finally okay with Sofia and him having a baby.  
Maricruz: “I’m thankful I’m not pregnant yet!” Everyone looked at her with curious eyes. “What? Fernando keeps bugging me about it but I just got my body back to what it was before this one.” She pointed at her daughter currently asleep in her father’s arms. “And I would like to enjoy it a little bit more before, you know, the cravings and all.”  
Fernando: “I’m thankful your parents are visiting your sister for Thanksgiving this year!” Everyone burst out laughing at his declaration and at his wife’s disapproving look that immediately followed.  
Maricruz: “Do I need to remind you that they’re spending Christmas with us?”  
Sucre: “Please, baby, let me enjoy Thanksgiving first!”  
Sofia: “By the way, Sara. Michael told us that your father was out of town this week for work. Where is he?”  
Sara: “He’s in Washington.”  
Fernando: “Washington, DC? Does he work for the Government or something?”  
Sara, turning to Michael: “You didn’t tell them?”  
Fernando: “Tell us what?”  
Lincoln: “He didn’t tell us anything!”  
Michael sending an apologetic look at Sara: “It didn’t come up.”  
Lincoln: “Come on, Michael. You barely told us that she was a physician. You didn’t even tell us how you two met.”  
Sara: “We met in line at Starbucks.” She smiled at Michael and squeezed his hand under the table.  
Lincoln: “I read somewhere that it’s a famous place for singles to meet other singles.”  
Sofia: “You read that?!”  
Lincoln: “Yeah, probably in one of your women’s magazines!”   
Sofia: “Told you they were worth the money!”  
Fernando: “So you met there and what happened?”  
Michael shifted nervously on his chair but offered: “We just started talking and one thing leading to the next…”  
Fernando: “Sara, please be honest with us, did he talk to you first? Because knowing him, if that’s the case, it’s a miracle that you are here today!”  
Michael: “Hey, HE is right here! And what does that even mean?”  
Lincoln: “It means that you’re not the best when it comes to talking to women!”  
Sofia in a mocking tone: “Because you’re so much better, Linc!”  
Lincoln to Sofia: “I will not comment on that now.” Then to Sara: “Going back to the initial question, Sara, what does your father do?”  
Sara: “He’s the Governor.” Seeing that her answer had elicited the same reaction as when she had told Michael, she promptly added: “He’s the Governor of Illinois.”  
Fernando: “What?! I can’t believe you didn’t think to mention that, Michael.”  
Michael: “Did you tell us what your wife’s father was doing the first time you brought her here?” He realized too late that he had implied that Sara might be (or would become) as important to him as Maricruz had been to his friend at the time.   
Sara wasn’t sure what to think of Michael’s comments. She didn’t want to put any pressure on him. She liked Michael. A lot. But their relationship was just starting and she was happy taking things slow. They had not even talked about where they stood yet. Her thoughts were interrupted by Lincoln: “So you’re the Governor’s daughter?” She nodded and declared: “The one and only! Do you feel different about me now that you know that?”  
Lincoln: “Now I’m even more thankful that I didn’t see you naked on Sunday when I went to see Michael at his apartment!”  
Fernando and Maricruz in perfect unison: “WHAT?!!”  
Michael, lifting his glass of wine: “I’m thankful for alcohol at family events!” He took a big gulp and put his glass back on the table, briefly glancing at Sara.   
Sara to Michael but loud enough for everyone to hear: “You were right, we’ll never hear the end of it…” She nervously adjusted her hair while Lincoln started to explain the “incident”.  
Fernando to Lincoln: “Wow, that would have been an interesting way to meet her.”   
Lincoln: “Yeah, a very memorable first impression!” His teasing tone didn’t escape Sara.  
Sara: “Yeah, well, I’m thankful Michael stopped you before you entered the bedroom.” Sara chuckled and raised her glass of wine before taking a big sip. Lincoln laughed and raised his glass too.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara was on her back, panting, Michael lying next to her. She didn’t know how they managed to ignore the sexual tension between them for most of the evening at Lincoln’s, nor how they succeeded in not making out on the train for the ride back. Because as soon as they entered the elevator in Michael’s building, Michael was on Sara, pinning her hands on each side of her head on the metal wall behind her, finally realizing one of his fantasies since he had met Sara a few weeks before. His lips found hers in an instant and she immediately granted him access deeper into her mouth, her tongue finding his to start a dance of their own. Michael’s hands travelled down to her waist and found their way inside her coat and under her sweater. His cold hands made her shiver, unless it wasn’t the cold. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore, except that she needed to feel Michael’s body against hers but that all their layers of clothing were currently preventing exactly that. Sara unzipped his puffer jacket then his hoodie underneath and started working on his shirt’s buttons. They knew that they made it to Michael’s floor when they heard the loud and clear “ping” of the elevator. Never breaking their kiss, Michael guided them to his apartment where they finally let their desire fully express itself. That had led to the moment when she was left panting besides Michael.  
Eventually catching her breath, she asked: “Do you still have ice cream in your freezer?”  
Michael answered without skipping a beat: “Of course I do! Want some now?”

 

A short while later they were on the couch enjoying a bowl of their favorite frozen treat.  
“You know, I’m really thankful that you stopped your brother from seeing me like this.” She indicated her body that was wrapped in the bed’s sheets.  
Michael who was only wearing his boxers looked up to her and smirked. “I might like my brother but there are some things that I don’t want to share.”  
“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone go from being asleep to jumping out of bed as fast as you did. Ever.”  
“Well, I’m glad I could save you.”  
“Yes, you’re my hero!”   
Sara’s tone was mocking and meant to undermine the value of her words but Michael didn’t let that deflate him: “More like a superhero you mean?!”  
“I’ve never been into superheroes”, she started very seriously, only deciding to play along with him afterwards. “But a superhero wearing only this…” She indicated his state of undress. “That could probably make me change my mind…”  
“So do you think I need a cape to go with my costume?” He pretended to go for the sheets that were covering her body, which made her retreat further away from him on the couch.  
“Don’t you dare!”  
“No cape then?”   
“No cape”, she confirmed.  
Their empty bowls stayed on the coffee table for the rest of the night. Who knew that ice cream could be an aphrodisiac?


	13. Christmas party at the Governor’s residence

“Good morning! Special delivery from Starbucks!” Michael held a bag of muffins in front of him as he entered Sara’s apartment. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat.  
“Good morning, Michael. You know, I could get used to this!” She replied, grinning back. She took the coffee tray from his hand and gave him a quick kiss. She was barely out of the shower, her hair still wet but Michael was nonetheless mesmerized by her beauty.  
“The delivery or the delivery man you mean?” Michael had one eyebrow raised, already suspecting that she would jump at the opportunity to tease him.  
“Hum, let me think… I haven’t had breakfast yet so I’m going to say the food and coffee. For now. But feel free to ask me later!” She winked at him and he offered her a small smile.  
“How was your Saturday?”  
“Exhausting! It was super busy in the E.R. and then our Christmas party was fun but it ended quite late. So yeah, exhausting. How was your Saturday?”   
They sat down on the couch to start their breakfast.  
“Very quiet comparatively. I went to see my brother, Sofia and LJ. They say hi.”  
Sara smiled. She enjoyed being included in Michael’s family. “How was your Christmas office party on Friday?”  
“It was good. Probably less wild than yours though!”  
“Who said our party was wild?!”  
“You, Med school students, had a reputation in college. I just assumed you continued the tradition…”  
“You’ll have to know that I heard some interesting stories about engineering students as well. We had a few drinks but nothing crazy happened. At least, not to my knowledge.”  
“Did you behave?”  
“I did. You?”  
“Always!”  
Sara snorted. “Sam made fun of me because she caught me texting you several times.”  
“Good thing we were not sexting then!”  
“Yes, thank you for not starting! Sam also made fun of your profile picture, asked me why the picture mostly showed your hands as if you were, and I quote, “about to grab my boobs”?”  
“And what did you say?” Michael was intrigued. When Sara had wanted to take a photo of him, he had insisted on showing his hands first, arguing that since he was good with his hands his picture should reflect that. Sara had laughed at the time and seeing that her efforts at snatching a good photo from him would be vain, she had put the “hands picture” as his profile picture. Obviously, Sam had noticed and Sara had to find an explanation.  
“I told her that you were shy, that you didn’t want your picture to be taken and that you wanted to grab the phone from my hands.”  
“Quick thinking: nice! Did she buy it?”  
“I think so.”  
“For the record, I wanted to grab your boobs when you took the picture”, he added with a mischievous smile.  
“Yet, you didn’t. Impressive self-control!”  
“I know, right?”  
“Hum, Michael” she started, suddenly serious, “do you have something planned for next Saturday?”  
“Not yet. Why?”  
“My father throws this early Christmas party with all of his close friends and colleagues. So, if you’re free, I’d like you to join me.”   
“Ha! I see. You need a date to keep you company!”   
“Actually, I was thinking that you could come as my boyfriend.” Sara finished her sentence and looked up at Michael timidly. It would be the first time that they would discuss their relationship and it made her a little nervous.  
“Does that mean I have to divorce my wife?!” Michael pretended to ask in an flat tone but his smile instantly undermined the effect.  
“You’d better be kidding”, Sara replied back, “and not tell me that you’re married to a Russian stripper, even if it’s only so that she could get her green card.”  
“Wow, you clearly watch too much tv, Sara!”  
“So you’re not actually married?” Michael vigorously shook his head. “Good. Because like you with your brother, there are some things that I don’t like to share.”  
“Good.” Michael glanced at Sara and smiled. “So, will your boyfriend have to wear a tuxedo to this Christmas party?”  
“What’s up with you and tuxedos?”  
“Just asking! So tux or not?”  
“No tuxedo but a suit would be good.”  
“Okay. Now that I am your boyfriend, are you going to tell me what you’re going to wear?”  
“Always curious, huh?”  
“Always. But also always concerned that we won’t match if we’re not careful.”  
“I’ll have to get back to you on that.”  
“Sounds good, girlfriend!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“How long is the ride until we get to your father’s home?” Michael had just sat down next to Sara in the limo that her father had sent for them.  
“About 20 minutes if we don’t hit too much traffic.”  
“Okay.”  
“Afraid you’re going to get bored? We can put the music on if you want.” Sara grabbed the remote control that was stored next to the door and scanned the radio stations until she found something she liked. She looked at Michael and could see that he was thinking about something. “What?”  
“How much can you see from the driver’s seat when the divider is up?”  
“Not much, I think. Why?” If Sara were to be completely honest, she suspected why he had asked.   
“How private would it be if we were to engage in…” Michael’s body slightly turned in her direction and his right hand landed on her knee, eventually travelling up, until it got underneath her black skirt where it stopped at mid-thigh.  
She needed to stop him. “Michael…” she started in what she intended to be a reproachful tone. However, when Michael’s lips brushed her ear, then left small kisses on her jaw until the corner of her mouth, she sensed her resolve falter. “We can’t…” That time, her voice desperately lacked conviction and Michael cut her before she could finish her sentence as he finally pressed his lips on hers. The kiss started slowly and Michael moved his hand higher under Sara’s skirt, sending shivers down her spine. A soft moan escaped her mouth and Michael took it as an invitation to continue what he was doing. His tongue begged for entry and she allowed it further access. In a surprising moment of lucidity in the middle of tongues and lips connecting, Sara spoke: “Michael”, she whispered, “my shirt…” It wasn’t easy formulating her thoughts in the middle of what was happening but she had to. Finally, she was able to articulate: “I don’t want it to be all wrinkled.” She was pleading. For her shirt or for Michael not to stop, she wasn’t sure anymore. Michael readjusted himself next to Sara so that there was a little space between them and he let his hand travel a little higher, his fingers delicately touching her panties now. Sara bit Michael’s bottom lip as retaliation. He had to know that he was torturing her.   
Misinterpreting Sara’s motivation behind her most recent action, Michael offered: “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful with your shirt.” With that said, he captured her lips once again and caressed her with more determination. Sara gasped at the contact, which elicited a small smile from him. There was still a thin layer of fabric between them but Sara knew that she could not be more turned on than she was at the moment. Her shirt and the party left her mind altogether. Michael could feel how wet she was and he slowly let his fingers slip under her panties, granting himself better access. Sara reacted to his movement immediately and planted her nails in his shoulder. He started to stroke her in a steady rhythm and she almost lost it right there and then. Wanting to prolong her pleasure he varied what he was doing with his fingers and explored her neck with his mouth. After a short while, Michael grabbed the remote with his other hand and turned the volume up to cover the sounds that were getting louder and louder. The blasting music was barely enough when Sara reached her peak.   
“That was…” Sara was still out of breath. She nervously glanced in front of her at the divider, trying to reassure herself that their private moment had been as private as hoped. She made sure her clothing didn’t reveal anything and, her breathing finally going back to normal, she allowed herself to look at Michael. He was sitting next to her, giving her an innocent look.   
“Amazing?” Michael suggested, one eyebrow raised.  
“Unexpected”, Sara replied almost simultaneously.  
“And amazing?” Michael countered. That time he had a proud smirk on his face.  
“Maybe…” Sara’s evasive answer was invalidated by the lazy smile that appeared on her lips.  
Michael leaned against her and kissed her passionately once more. “Maybe?! Hum, based on what I heard…” His sentence was interrupted by the driver who was lowering the divider to inform them that they had reached their destination. 

 

Inside the Governor’s residence, they gave their coats to one of the employees and found a bathroom. They wanted to appear presentable to join the party and not reveal what they were doing just minutes before. Once Sara was satisfied with her appearance, her shirt virtually impeccable, they made their way out and were about to enter the main room where everyone was when Sara stopped to look Michael in the eyes and ask: “Ready?”  
“I am but I’m also ready to continue what we have started in the limo…” He had a mischievous smile that Sara tried to ignore.  
“As tempting as this offer is, we can’t simply disappear. My father is expecting us.”  
“This house looks big enough for us to find a quiet place without anybody noticing.” He took one step closer to Sara and gently started to caress her arm. It gave her goosebumps. She thought that now wasn’t the time. However, not hearing any protests from her, Michael continued: “Besides, I’m sure that your father is currently busy with other people and has no idea we’re even here so there would be no harm in us taking our time before letting him know.”  
“Michael, I’m the Governor’s daughter and I can’t be completely irresponsible.”  
“Being completely irresponsible would be having unprotected sex.” He paused for a second before continuing: “Fortunately for you, I have something to make you less irresponsible.”   
Sara gasped as she saw him take from the inside pocket of his suit jacket a condom and flaunt it in front of her. “You can’t be serious”, she disapprovingly told him, trying to hide the foil wrapper back into his pocket.  
“I’m always serious when it comes to safe sex”, he calmly retorted.  
“I was referring to the fact that you have a condom in your pocket to attend a Christmas party at my father’s house.”  
“More than one actually”, he replied with a smug grin. She scoffed, at a loss for words. “What? I was taken off guard once, I swore it would never happen to me again.”  
Sara was aware that she was losing the argument. Deciding to ignore the invitation, she grabbed his right hand, immediately intertwining her fingers with his, and started walking towards the large room again.  
“You do realize that you’re holding the same hand that…”  
She squeezed his hand with more vigor to silence him, her look serious. “Please behave! Or there won’t be any more reruns of what occurred in the back of the limo earlier.”  
“Fine. I will behave. And not because I believe for one second that you would follow through on your threat but because...”  
“Sara! You’re here!” A man with white hair and ostensibly the same age as the Governor cut their conversation short, much to Sara’s relief.  
“Bruce! It’s good to see you. Bruce, this is Michael. Michael, Bruce Bennett, one of my father’s long time collaborators.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Michael.”  
“You too, Bruce.”  
“Have you seen my father, Bruce?”  
“Yes, he’s in his office.”  
“Who won?” Sara inquired as they made their way to said office where her father was in the middle of another chess game.   
“Not me”, he replied with a chuckle.  
Sara gave the older man a smile and they stopped next to the little group that was gathered around the two players. It didn’t take much time for the Governor to beat his young and eager but inexperienced opponent. Frank Tancredi spotted his daughter and got up to greet her and shake Michael’s hand.  
“You know, Dad, Michael was on the chess club in high school. Maybe he can be next?”   
“Are you up for the challenge?” The Governor was an excellent chess player and he was curious to see what his daughter’s new boyfriend was made of. “Please don’t let me win because I’m the Governor, Michael.” Michael sat down and briefly wondered if he wanted to say “Please know that I won’t go easy on you because you’re dating my daughter.” The game started as soon as the pieces were placed on the board. Sara and Bruce observed the first few moves but soon left the two men with their audience.

 

“I missed you at the gala, Bruce.” Sara took the glass of champagne that her father’s friend handed her.  
“I heard you were in good company”, Bruce replied after taking a sip from his own glass.  
Sara gave him a curious look and realized that her father might have talked about Michael to Bruce. “I was, yes. But I still missed you. How is your grand daughter?”  
“Absolutely perfect, of course.” He had a big smile on his lips as he took his phone from his pocket to show Sara some pictures of the newborn.  
“She’s beautiful, Bruce”, Sara commented. “Is Martha with you tonight?”  
“No. She decided to stay a little longer with Amanda and the baby in Boston. But tell me more about this boyfriend of yours.”  
“Well, he’s smart and funny. He’s an engineer. Did my father tell you that he worked on the plans for the renovations that were done at the hospital recently?”  
“No, he didn’t. I assumed he did a good job, otherwise he would not have passed the test.” Bruce winked at Sara before continuing: “So, you’re saying that I am going to like him?”  
“Yes, I think so.” Sara lowered her gaze, not even trying to hide the smile that was brightening her face.   
“I’m glad.” He had known Sara for years and was sincerely happy for her. “We should probably go back to your father’s office to see how your boyfriend is doing…”

 

Michael instantly locked eyes with Sara when she entered the room, as if he had been waiting for her. That made her nervous as she thought that the reason was that he was losing terribly. However, once she got near the table, she realized that it wasn’t the case. Michael followed her with his eyes until she was only inches away from him and she let her hand rest on his shoulder. He gave Sara a short smile before turning his attention back to the board. He briefly considered his next move and very nonchalantly announced: “Check”.   
The Governor was rattled but he managed to recover quickly, in an attempt not to let his opponent know his surprise. The game continued for several more minutes, the players alternating turns. Michael still looked more focussed on the woman besides him than on the game unfolding in front of him. Frank Tancredi on the other hand was sweating, figuratively, as he tried to find a way out of the deadly trap that Michael had gradually but deliberately prepared for him. He frowned and looked at the board once more. He sighed as he made his final decision.  
“Checkmate”, Michael simply said in return, moving a piece to confirm his victory.   
Sara looked at her father, then at Michael who was not showing any signs of pride in his win. If anything, he looked uncomfortable about it. Frank got up and shook Michael’s hand, promising him a revenge match in the future. Then they all left the room and joined the rest of the guests for the party. Between drinks and some hors d’oeuvres, Sara faced Michael and declared: “You know, my father rarely loses a game.”  
“Really? Are you impressed?”   
“A little, I must say”, Sara conceded.  
“Impressed enough to escape with me in one of the rooms upstairs?”   
She playfully hit his chest with her hand as she retorted: “You’re impossible!”  
“Impossibly attractive?” He was now trying his puppy eyes on Sara and she simply shook her head, not even bothering to respond.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Finding herself on her own for the first time that evening, Sara heard a familiar voice behind her: “Hello Sara! Long time no see.”  
“Hello Scott. How are you doing?” Sara asked politely.  
“Good, thanks.” Wasting no time and going straight to the point, Scott inquired: “Are you here alone tonight?”  
“No, I’m here with my boyfriend”, she replied, wishing that it would be enough to discourage him.  
“Boyfriend? Hum, that’s a shame. Really. I thought that you and I could go out again sometime.”   
Sara understood that her attempt at being subtle had not worked so she opted to be more explicit: “Scott, just to be clear, even if I wasn’t single, I would not go out with you ever again.”  
Scott didn’t seem put off by what Sara had just told him. On the contrary, despite her obvious hostile verbal (and non-verbal) language, he decided to sit down, noticing that the seat on Sara’s left was empty. “Come on, Sara. Our date wasn’t so bad?”  
“Do you really want me to answer that?”  
“Okay, okay. Don’t be so harsh. Is it serious between you two?”  
“Yes, it is”, she replied instantly.  
“Where is he anyway?” Scott’s question sounded a little bitter, rather than simply curious. Losing wasn’t something that he was used to and Sara rejecting him really felt like losing, which he hated. Yes, their date had been horrible, mostly because he had been disrespectful to her, not that he had apologized to her after the fact, but he had always assumed that she would eventually give him a second chance.   
As if on cue, Michael appeared with two dessert plates. “Sorry, it took me so long. Your father was talking to me.” Unaware of what he had just walked into, Michael handed Sara a plate with a slice of chocolate cake, keeping the one with a slice of raspberry pie and sat down next to her.   
Without much enthusiasm, Sara introduced Michael to Scott and they exchanged polite words before the intruder finally excused himself, leaving the couple alone at their table. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Have I already told you how beautiful you are tonight, Sara?”   
Sara blushed at the compliment. “As a matter of fact, you have, yes.” She looked at Michael and couldn’t help but smile and lose herself in his piercing blue eyes.   
“In that case, I will say that I particularly like your outfit. This color…” he started, pointing at the light pink shirt that Sara was wearing, “looks good on you. And, may I add that your shirt seems to be wrinkle-resistant, which is very convenient.” He winked at her and Sara shook her head at his teasing.   
“I like your tie. Very… Christmas-y!” she commented. Sara had noticed Michael’s tie in the limo earlier that night but had been “distracted” before she could say anything.   
“Are you trying to change the subject, Sara? I was hoping we could talk about your skirt. How perfectly it fits you and how much it reveals when you’re sitting.” Michael was now unashamedly staring at her legs and Sara felt her skin burn under his gaze.   
“I didn’t know that you liked Snoopy”, she countered, indicating his red tie with Snoopy wearing a Christmas hat. As unusual it was for him to wear a tie with a Peanuts character, she had to admit that it matched well with his grey suit and white shirt. It added a playful touch to his dashing look.   
“I do. I also like seeing you in a skirt”, he persisted. He moved his hand just above Sara’s knee, without actually touching it, and smirked as he saw Sara’s breathing slightly accelerate. “Where do we stand on public displays of affection by the way?” He perfectly knew where he stood: he wanted to touch Sara, regardless of where they were. At the same time, he was unwilling to put her in a delicate position considering her status as the Governor’s daughter.  
“Michael, no public displays of affection for the moment”, she replied in a low voice. His hand retreated and went to rest on the table in front of him.  
“I suppose French kissing is also out of question…” He already knew her answer but they could still have a little fun, verbally at least.  
“Yes, I’m afraid so”, she chuckled softly.  
“Maybe I can kiss your neck instead?”  
That time, she laughed out loud. “That would be inappropriate as well. I’d rather be alone with you when you execute what you have in mind, Michael. Until then, we can’t. I’m sorry.”  
“Okay”, he pouted. “But watch out when we’re alone again”, he promised.  
“Looking forward to it”, she replied, locking eyes with him and smiling.


	14. Christmas

They had spent Christmas eve separately, Sara with her father and Michael with his brother’s family. Despite his hectic schedule, Frank had always spent the 24th with his daughter. It felt even more important since his wife had died. As for Michael, he had always been with his brother for Christmas. Regardless of what life threw at them, the loss of both parents, dysfunctional foster families, an unexpected pregnancy (yes, LJ was “an accident”, but the best accident ever according to Lincoln), the brothers had always been together for that special holiday. Despite enjoying their respective company for the evening, Michael and Sara missed each other terribly. As a result, they spent a lot of time on their cell phone, sending text after text to compensate for the lack of physical proximity.  
“How was supper?”  
“Very good. My father has a great cook! You?”  
“Excellent. I was in charge ;)” Michael’s cocky answer made Sara chuckle but she knew he was great in the kitchen.  
“What are you going to do now?”  
“LJ is getting the Wii ready. Probably going to play with the new games that he got for Christmas. You?”  
“We’re ready to watch a movie.”  
“What?”  
“The Nightmare before Christmas.”  
“I miss you.”  
“I miss you too. And I’ll see you soon :)”  
“Enjoy the movie.”  
“Good luck at the Wii!”  
“Thanks. See you tomorrow!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Where is your brother, Lincoln? I thought Fernando told me he would be here with us today.”  
“He’s just downstairs. He shouldn’t be long. Don’t worry, Mrs. Delgado.”  
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Maria, Lincoln?”  
“Sorry, Maria.”  
“It was about time he found a girlfriend. Don’t you think Raoul?” Fernando’s father in law didn’t answer back. He simply looked at his wife and shrugged. “What can you tell us about her?”  
Lincoln and Sucre looked at each other, not sure if it was their place to say that she was the Governor’s daughter. They both opted to omit this detail from their brief explanations.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

As soon as he heard the doorbell, Michael rushed to the door to welcome Sara who didn’t have time to take her coat off that Michael’s lips were on hers, his arms wrapping around her. Sara could taste something sweet on his lips and she quickly guessed that he had just drunk a hot chocolate (a very sweet hot chocolate). She smiled against his lips and let her tongue play with his for a short moment before breaking the kiss reluctantly.  
“Merry Christmas, Michael!” Sara said with a big smile.  
Michael smiled too and gave her another quick kiss before replying: “Merry Christmas, Sara!”  
She knew that all the guests had arrived, Michael had texted her about everything since the morning, so they were probably waiting for them to make their way to the living room. As a result, despite Michael’s enthusiasm and Sara’s desire to keep him to herself a little longer, they stepped out of the entrance and joined the rest of the group. 

 

Maricruz had disappeared upstairs to change their daughter so Fernando started the introductions but was soon interrupted by Maria: “You’re the Governor’s daughter!”  
“Huh, yes, I am”, Sara replied, surprised that she knew her. “I’m Sara”, she said holding her hand in front of her.  
“Nice to meet you, Sara. I’m Maria and this is Raoul.” Maria shook Sara’s hand.  
“It’s a pleasure meeting you both.” Sara shook Raoul’s hand too.  
“You look even more beautiful in person”, Maria complimented her.  
“Thank you, Maria.” Sara was slightly embarrassed but was proud of the fact that she didn’t feel herself blush.  
“Michael, you never told us that your girlfriend was Governor Tancredi’s daughter”, Maria told Michael, reproach evident in her voice.  
“Sorry”, Michael said, looking at Maria and then at Sara. Everybody seemed to think that it was a big deal who her father was but he met Sara, not the Governor’s daughter. In any case, now everybody knew.  
“So, Michael, how did you go from hopeless bachelor to dating the Governor’s daughter?”  
“Well, to be honest I didn’t know who she was when we first met.” Michael had deliberately decided not to answer the first part of her question. “You’re the first one who knew who she was before you were even introduced to her.”  
Maria looked at the others in the room: Lincoln, Sofia, Maricruz (who had finally come down), Fernando and all nodded in agreement.  
“What can I say? I read the newspapers!” Then turning to Sara, she continued: “I saw a picture of you and your father last month. What was it for? A gala or something?”  
“Yes, it was a gala for the children’s hospital”, Sara confirmed. She smiled at Michael who smiled back, both remembering the evening that changed it all for them.  
“Sara, is it true that your father is going to be in the run for Vice-President for the next elections?”  
“Nothing’s official yet but yes, there are talks about it. We’ll see.” Sara didn’t particularly like to comment on her father’s political career and wasn’t sure what she thought about the possibility of her father becoming the Vice-President of the United States. It seemed so… big. He was just her father. It was weird to think that he could become much more than the Governor of Illinois. That being said, considering who his opposition would likely be, Sara would definitely be cheering for her father and his co-candidate.  
“So, Michael, have you met Sara’s father yet?” Of course, Maria was curious.  
“Yes, I have.” He wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say as it didn’t only concern him. It also concerned Sara.  
Sara chose to offer more explanations, erasing his doubts: “Michael actually met my father at the gala you mentioned last month and we also went to a Christmas party that he hosted a couple of weeks ago.”  
“I gather that it went well if you are still together?” Michael and Sara looked at each other but didn’t answer anything back. However, their eyes spoke for them and Maria approvingly added: “You two make a lovely couple.”  
Both smiled and offered a shy “thank you” in return.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Once supper was done, Maria and Raoul left with their grand daughter, leaving the others to retreat to the living room where they enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere that always follows a delicious meal in good company. Michael and Sara were sharing an armchair, pleased that they had an excuse to be close to one another. Michael had one arm casually around Sara’s waist, while Sara left her hand play with Michael’s short hair in the back of his head. They were talking to each other in a low voice and were visibly enjoying the moment, stealing a kiss or two every once in a while.  
Lincoln discreetly observed his brother and thought that it was so different from his previous relationship. He had thought that Michael was more reserved when it came to showing his affection in public because that’s how he was with Jenny, his ex-girlfriend. He realized that it wasn’t the case with Sara and he once again cursed Jenny. Lincoln had always believed that Jenny didn’t appreciate his brother for who he was and now he knew that she was also the reason why his brother was not himself when he was around her. Lincoln could see that Michael was happy with Sara, just by witnessing how they joked and laughed together. Lincoln didn’t care that Sara was the Governor’s daughter. What only mattered to him was that his brother was in love and that it seemed mutual. Lincoln’s thoughts were cut short by LJ who suggested that they turned the Wii on. Sara volunteered to a game of tennis against LJ and surprised everyone by winning the first game. She quickly high fived Michael and cheerfully resumed her position in front of the screen before the start of the second match. Yeah, Lincoln thought, definitely better than Jenny. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Nice pyjama pants!” Michael couldn’t resist teasing Sara. They were sitting on one of the couches in the basement.  
“Hey, don’t mock me! One, I wasn’t sure what our sleeping arrangements would be. For all I knew, we were going to sleep in the living room upstairs. And two, it’s a present from my father: Christmas, last year.”  
“They’re very… festive!” He held his phone in front of him and took a picture of Sara before she even realized it.  
“I’m going to keep them all night if you continue.”  
“We’ll see about that!” Michael gave Sara a challenging look.  
Knowing that she wasn’t going to win the argument, Sara opted to redirect the conversation: “How are we going to decide who gets to open their presents first?”  
“Rock, paper, scissors?”  
“How old are you? Seven?!”  
“It’s been proven to be an effective way…”  
Sara shook her head but they nonetheless proceeded according to Michael’s suggestion and Sara was the first one to pick a present. Michael took another picture of Sara. This time, she saw him and blew him a kiss at the last minute.  
“Three presents for me, huh?” She asked, indicating the table in front of them where five presents were placed.  
“Well, the third one”, Michael started, pointing at a small square box, “is more a joke than an actual present.”  
After three rounds of rock, paper, scissors, it was determined that Sara would be the first one to open a present. She picked a cardboard cylinder with a big bow on top and opened it. It revealed a collage of various photos.  
“I’m not sure I understand… I see pics of you, me, food… New York?”  
“We’re going to New York AND we’re going to a French restaurant.”  
“You’re inviting me to a French restaurant in New York?”  
“Not just any French restaurant. It’s supposed to be the best French restaurant in New York!”  
“Wow! Thanks, Michael!”  
“You’re welcome, Sara. Sorry that we’ll have to wait for the weekend of the 7th of January to go there but they were completely booked for the holidays.”  
“It’s not a problem. So you decided that you didn’t want to cook for me anymore?”  
“I decided to let the professionals do their magic for once! And maybe I’ll take some notes and try copying them later on.” Michael finished with a wink.  
“We’re going to New York!” Sara said with excitement. Sara smiled at Michael and gave him a quick kiss. “Your turn!”  
Michael picked a long and thin box. He tore the wrapping paper apart in no time and saw a black tie with golden stripes. “Thanks, Sara. I love it.”  
“Well, you always look good in a tie so I figured I could add to your collection.”  
Michael felt his cheeks redden, embarrassed by Sara’s compliment. He quickly handed her another present. “Here”, he said.  
It was a necklace that Sara found absolutely beautiful. She had to give it to him: he knew how to buy jewelry! She thanked him and once she had put it on, Michael took another picture of Sara.  
“Are you going to stop taking pictures of me in my pyjama pants?”  
“I can take pictures of you without them if you prefer”, Michael offered suggestively.  
“In your dreams, Scofield!” Sara replied back, giggling.  
“In my dreams and in real life too one day, Tancredi!”  
“I find you cocky.”  
“I prefer optimistic”, he retorted with a wink.  
“You’re incorrigible. Shut up and open your last present. You’re going to find it funny given what you already offered me.”  
Michael raised one eyebrow while looking at Sara, intrigued. “We’re going to Boston in two days? Am I correct?”  
“Yes! I’ve booked us a suite in a hotel near the Museum of Fine Arts.”  
“Thanks, Sara. I can’t wait!” He gave her a quick kiss and suddenly added: “A suite?!”  
“Absolutely. You know, we deserve the best.”  
“I guess it will be better than a pull-out couch, huh?” Michael pointed at their “bed” for the night.  
“Hey, we’re good here. We have a gas fireplace, which is very romantic I must say. Plus, your family and us are separated by one floor, so we have some privacy.”  
“I can confirm that you don’t hear anything coming from the basement when you’re upstairs.”  
“I’m not sure I want to know how or why you know that…” Sara gave him a suspicious look.  
“No, no, it’s not what you think. One day, we were watching a game here and I went upstairs and I couldn’t hear a sound, despite the volume being very loud on the tv. So, yes, we’re good. Very good…”  
With that comment, Michael got closer to Sara on the couch and leaned towards her to capture her lips in a slow kiss. The upcoming trip to Boston was soon forgotten, the heat between the two rising quickly. Michael got up but didn’t break the kiss with Sara and directed her to the bed.  
“What about my last present?” Sara asked between two kisses.  
“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.” He crashed his lips on Sara’s and gently pushed her on the bed where he intended to join her in a smooth motion but the mattress made an embarrassing noise and sank so much under their weight that they stopped in their tracks and burst out laughing.  
“Wow, sorry about that”, Michael started a little flushed. “God, I don’t know what to say. I never slept here with anyone. I guess it’s okay for one person but not so much for two…”  
“You’re telling me I’m the first woman you’ve brought to your brother’s house?” She heard a shy “yes” from Michael and felt her heart grow inside. She tried to move a little bit closer to Michael with the intention of kissing him but only ended up almost on him, which made her laugh again. “Not that I want to sound snob but can we do something about our “situation”? I mean, if I’m going to end up ON you, I prefer it to be because I chose to, not because the bed forces me to.”  
Michael thought for a moment then quickly got up and grabbed Sara’s hand in the process. “Get up. We’re going to take the mattress and put it on the floor.”  
They did as he suggested and proceeded to lay down on the bed. Michael intended to resume what they had just started and moved closer to Sara but as he was about to kiss her, she stopped him and grabbed her last present that was on the coffee table near their bed now. “Can I open your “joke” now?” Michael nodded his ascent and gave Sara a little space. Sara opened the box and saw that it was full of condoms. She then gave him a serious look: “So, what’s your joke? You’re offering me condoms but you don’t want to have sex with me? Or you do but don’t want to use them at all?”  
“I said it was a joke because it’s not really a present in the traditional sense of the term. It’s more a useful gift…”  
“So, you DO want to have sex with me?” Sara had one condom in her hand and she waved it in front of Michael.  
He didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he grabbed Sara’s hips and pulled her closer to him. His face was just above Sara’s and he let his lips brush against hers in a very slow and teasing way: “I think that we could use your present soon…”  
“I’d like that”, Sara answered back, lifting her head up to capture Michael’s lips in a hot kiss that lasted until they needed to come up for air.  
Michael took advantage of the little break to take Sara’s pyjama pants off. “Sorry, Frank!” he said throwing the pants away in a playful manner, which made Sara laugh. He looked at her and grew serious unexpectedly. He really loved to hear Sara laugh. She was so beautiful when she laughed. She looked so happy and he loved to see her like that. “What?” He heard her say. What? He realized with the upmost clarity at that moment that he loved her. Yes, he loved Sara. It was probably too early to tell her that so he decided to do the next best thing in his mind: showing her. He captured her lips and put all his feelings in the kiss. Sara was completely oblivious to his internal reflection but kissed him back with a matching intensity nonetheless. It wasn’t long before Sara felt Michael’s hands pulling her tee-shirt up and discarding it as unceremoniously as her pants. He took a moment to appreciate her almost naked body and couldn’t resist kissing her once again. He didn’t think he could get enough of her. He continued leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, then her collarbone, then lower at the beginning of her breast. He marked a pause to look up at Sara. She saw Michael’s desire in his eyes but she also caught something else. Admiration? Trust? L…? She didn’t have time to continue her train of thoughts that she felt Michael’s lips lightly kissing her breast until they reached her nipple and she moaned at the sensation. He spent what felt to Sara like a long (and wonderful) moment kissing, gently biting and licking her now very hardened nipple and Sara thought that she was going to lose it right there and then. As if he knew the effect he had on her, Michael moved slightly to his left and his lips brushed her other breast. Sara expected him to keep his slow and steady rhythm to let the tension build up but gasped when he took her nipple in his mouth and sucked on it languorously. She still had the wrapped condom in her hand when Michael’s body moved even lower in the bed and his mouth traced the top of her panties. In a swift motion, Michael discarded the last piece of clothing and Sara forgot to breathe for an instant before she felt his breath on her sensitive skin and closed her eyes in anticipation. The first kiss was so soft that Sara wasn’t sure his lips had touched her. It was soon followed by other kisses, more intense this time. When Michael’s tongue started to pleasure her, Sara couldn’t suppress a sigh to escape her lips. She put one hand on Michael’s head, the other grabbed his left hand, urging him to carry on what he was doing. He used his free hand to caress her breast again and the combined stimulation soon became so intense that her moans were louder and louder, which only encouraged him to continue until he felt her body tense under the orgasm that washed over her and he heard a very satisfied sigh coming from Sara’s mouth. Slowly he made his way up and was welcome by Sara’s arms. She lazily kissed him before tightening her arms around him. She heard a low “Merry Christmas, Sara” which made her laugh. “I thought the condoms were my present”, she retorted.  
“Well, I wasn’t sure how to wrap that…” Michael’s response made her laugh once more. “Any ideas? For the future?”  
“Shut up”, she said unconvincingly. She kissed him again and then added: “Are we going to use my real present now?”  
“It’s your present, you decide…”  
Sara didn’t have to be told twice and took things in her own hands (literally) as she grabbed the condom that was near her on the bed and slowly unwrapped it.


	15. December 26

Sara sensed Michael’s arms around her when she woke up. She thought that there was no better way to wake up. She felt happy and safe like never before. She sighed contentedly and turned around to see him. She gently kissed his chest before whispering a “Good morning” that Michael answered by smiling and kissing the top of her head. “I really hope that they didn’t hear us last night. That would be pretty bad.”  
“I believe that we’re fine but one way to be sure is if my brother asks you how we slept. Because if he doesn’t say anything, we’ll know that he heard us…”  
“Do you think that he’s going to come downstairs to tell us “good morning”?”  
“I highly doubt it.”  
“He almost walked on us when we were at your apartment…”  
“Yes, but only because he thought I was alone. He wouldn’t do it knowingly.”  
“I hope you’re right!”  
“Don’t worry.” With that, he moved them so that his body was now on top of Sara’s. “I will hide you if Linc shows up!”  
Sara smiled at his protectiveness and kissed him softly on the lips. Before they could think of going any further, they heard Lincoln’s voice from upstairs: “Sara, Michael, breakfast is ready if you want to join us!” Reluctantly, Michael untangled himself from Sara and declared: “My brother is not a master chef but he can make great pancakes…”  
“Wow, we even have room service here! Let’s go, I’m starving!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael and Sara emerged from the basement together but Lincoln addressed Sara first: “Good morning, tennis champ!” Then, turning to Michael he added: “Good morning, bro. Or should I call you “the worst tennis player the Wii has ever seen”?”  
“Good morning, Lincoln”, Sara said chirpily, still proud of her accomplishments at the video game.  
Michael was far less cheerful: “Ha ha, you’re hilarious in the morning, Linc! We all know that in a matter of weeks, LJ will be the king of tennis, just like he is the king of every other game at the Wii.”   
“Don’t pay attention to him, Sara. It’s not often that we find something he doesn’t excel at. He’s just a sore loser. What are your plans for today, guys?”  
Sara was the first one to speak up: “Well, I need to go back home to pack because I’m going skiing with my father tomorrow but we’re actually leaving tonight, so that we can hit the slopes first thing in the morning.”  
“Skiing, huh? I never imagined the Governor on skis.”  
“Yeah. You can imagine him because he goes skiing at least once a year. And my father gave me snowshoes for Christmas so I guess we’ll go snowshoeing tomorrow as well.”  
“Cool. Hey, changing the subject, I hope you two slept well downstairs.”  
“We did, thanks.”  
“What are you going to do tomorrow then, little brother?”  
“Get ready for our trip to Boston”, Michael replied enthusiastically.  
“Boston?!”  
“My Christmas present from Sara!”   
Lincoln happily noticed how excited Michael sounded but couldn’t resist teasing him just a little bit: “Maybe you can finally go to MIT then!”  
“Linc, I don’t think you’re ready for stand-up comedy just yet. Better keep your day job for now!”  
Sara ignored Michael’s response and interrogated Lincoln: “What do you mean by “finally go to MIT”?”  
“He never told you that he applied to MIT, got accepted but chose not to go?” He looked at his brother, clearly still disapproving of his choice many years ago, and continued: “He didn’t want to leave Chicago.”  
Michael raised his shoulders, not in the mood to discuss the issue but knowing that he had to say something: “Will you let it go if we go and visit MIT while we’re in Boston, Linc?”  
“Only if you send me a picture of you and Sara in front of one of the buildings!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Back at Sara’s apartment, Michael made himself comfortable in front of the tv and browsed the channels while Sara was busy preparing what she would need for her short trip to the mountain. Eventually, he heard Sara call him from the bedroom.  
“Do you need my help?”  
“Yes, could you please get the grey bag on the shelf for me? It has my ski boots in it.”  
Michael stretched his arm and grabbed the bag. “Not tall enough, huh?”  
“I am tall enough”, she replied decisively, taking the bag from his hands. “Any taller and I would tower over you when I wear high heels!”  
“And?”  
“And usually men don’t like when their girlfriend is taller than them.”   
“I wouldn’t mind if you were taller than me when you’re in high heels… As long as you’re shorter when you’re not!” His mocking tone made Sara smile. “Do you need a hand with something else?”  
“Well”, she started, closing her suitcase and then looking at her watch, “we have about 40 minutes before my father gets here. What do you say we put my Christmas present to good use?”   
“What? You want to put your new necklace on again?”  
“I meant my other present…” She opened the little box that still had a bow on it, taking one condom and throwing it at Michael who caught it with ease.  
“I thought you’d never ask!” He completed the distance that separated them in no time and wrapped his arms around Sara’s body. “Please don’t forget to bring the rest of your present to Boston!”  
“I won’t”, Sara replied before kissing Michael hungrily and starting to undress him.


	16. Boston – Part One

Sara reached their gate and sat down near the windows. Michael had stopped at the airport Starbucks counter to get their breakfast as they had left their respective apartments very early that morning. It was lightly snowing outside. Sara was happy. Michael and her were going on their first vacation together. Granted, it was only a three-night getaway but she was very excited about the prospect of her and Michael together for a few days. Her reverie came to a halt when a cup appeared in front of her eyes. She chuckled: “You really asked the waiter to write “Tennis champ” on my coffee?”  
Michael tried to mask the blush from his cheeks by scratching his almost non-existent beard (even though he hadn’t shaved in two days). “You should have seen her face when I asked her to write “#1 Fan” on mine. I’m certain she was confused as to which one was for me.”  
Sara didn’t miss a beat: “She probably thought that you were an arrogant douche and pitied the person you bought the other drink for.”  
“Or maybe she thought I was adorable”, he retorted just as quickly. “But if you’re not happy, feel free to get our orders in the future!”  
“Oh no. Now that you’ve started something with your alternate names, I’m going to expect something even better next time!” She kissed him on the cheek before taking a sip from her cup.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Once on the airplane, Michael asked the question that had nagged him since Christmas: “So why Boston?”  
“Huh, many reasons, I guess…” Sara had thought about New York actually and was glad that she had decided against it at the last minute. “It’s supposed to be beautiful and they have great museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts.” Michael gave her a suspicious look telling her to continue because he didn’t completely buy her first reasons. “I’ve never been there but my mom studied at Harvard before she met my father.” She had to pause for a second to recompose herself. She rarely talked about her mother and it made her a little emotional. “I never felt like visiting Boston before but this year I thought about it and said “why not?”, you know?”  
“What changed?”  
Sara hesitated. She had always avoided going to the capital of Massachusetts fearing that she wouldn’t be strong enough to visit the city where her mother spent four years of her life. For the first time since her mother’s death, she was finally okay with doing something that would remind her of her mother. She was actually really looking forward to wander around Boston in her mother’s footsteps. What changed? She repeated the question in her mind. She wished she could tell Michael that his unwavering support meant the world to her and that with him by her side she now felt strong enough. But she was not ready to admit all that to him and was unwilling to darken the mood of their upcoming trip so she simply shrugged and said: “It was about time.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Welcome to the Fairmount Copley Plaza, Miss Tancredi! It’s a pleasure to have you here.”  
“Thank you.” She looked at Michael who was standing next to her, smiling, then addressed the hotel employee again: “We’re happy to be here.”   
“Is it your first time in Boston?”  
“It is actually. For the both of us.” Michael’s grin grew bigger and he got closer to Sara.  
The employee checked his computer and quickly excused himself. He went to a room behind the counter and stayed there for a minute. Michael and Sara were puzzled. Usually checking in was fast. When he returned, he looked at his computer again, seemingly worried.  
Sara read his name tag and asked: “Is there a problem, Gabriel?”  
“No no, give me a second and I’ll explain everything.” Gabriel carefully avoided her gaze and Sara briefly glanced at Michael. Something was definitely going on but Sara gave the hotel employee the benefit of the doubt. “Sorry about the delay, Miss Tancredi”, the man eventually said. “There is a problem in the bathroom of the suite that you had booked and the room is now unavailable.” Before Sara could start to worry about the implications of the statement, Gabriel added: “That being said, I just checked our reservations and it appears that we can offer you other options instead. There are no more suites similar to the one that you had booked. However, we would be happy to upgrade you to one of our better suites, at no extra charge, obviously.” Relieved, Sara waited for Gabriel to continue. “We have two suites that are available. One is the Presidential Suite.”   
Michael laughed out loud when he heard the first option. “Wow, that would be a serious upgrade!” Sara laughed with him.  
“As the name suggests it, it is our most magnificent guestroom”, Gabriel declared, unflappable. “There is also the Museum of Fine Arts Suite. It features several reproductions of pieces that you can admire at the museum.” Sara was too surprised to react immediately. It was perfect. “It is my favorite suite”, Gabriel supplemented. “Very romantic”, he finished in a lower voice. He looked at the couple in front of him expectantly. Michael gently caressed Sara’s arm with his hand and brushed his lips against her temple, murmuring something in her ear that made her blush. She cleared her throat and said that they would gladly take the latter. “Excellent choice, Miss Tancredi. If I may add, it is known, unofficially, as the honeymoon suite as many newly wed couples choose to book this suite. I am sure that you will appreciate what it has to offer.” His tone remained professional but Sara did notice the little spark in his eyes when he handed them the keys to room 1412 and wished them a pleasant stay.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“And here I thought that the perks of dating the Governor’s daughter would be limited to attending a fancy gala and riding in the back of a limo once in a while! Both instances are great by the way. But who knew that your last name would also open the door to this beautiful suite...”  
“I usually don’t like to take advantage of my father’s reputation but it’s not really for me: it’s for you. Merry Christmas, Michael!”  
“Thank you, Miss Tancredi! I am sure that I am going to appreciate what the suite has to offer.” Sara didn’t miss the fact that Michael repeated almost word for word what Gabriel had just told them and chuckled. She took two steps in his direction and stopped in front of him. As her hands moved up his chest, she gently pressed her body against his. “I’ll make sure your stay is as pleasant as possible”, she whispered suggestively, sending shivers down his spine. Her lips found his in a soft kiss that quickly changed into a more heated one.   
After a while, Michael broke the kiss and said: “Please tell me you brought your Christmas present!”  
“Of course, but I must warn you: we may have to replenish our stock before the end of our vacation here…”  
“I certainly hope so, Miss Tancredi!”  
Sara felt Michael’s lips on her neck while his hands impudently travelled under her shirt and any intentions to let him know that she had almost forgotten the box in her bedroom in Chicago momentarily left her mind. Not that it mattered anyway because Michael had made sure to bring a box of condoms as well. But he didn’t tell Sara anything either, too busy that he was with her in his arms.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The visit at the Museum of Fine Arts had been delightful and had lasted until late afternoon. Michael and Sara returned to their suite to get ready for supper at the hotel restaurant. While Michael had opted for a black suit paired with a white shirt and embellished by his brand new black and gold tie, Sara had chosen to wear a mint designer cocktail dress that left Michael speechless for a couple of seconds. “Gorgeous” was all he was able to say when he found his voice again. As for Sara, she genuinely believed that her boyfriend could have been a model if he had decided not to pursue a career in engineering. He was sexy as hell! Ignoring the naughty thoughts that crossed her mind, she grabbed her purse and they quickly exited the room.

 

“Good evening! Do you have a reservation?”  
“Yes, we do. I called earlier from our room.”  
“Certainly. What is your room number please?”  
“1412.”  
“1412? Excellent.” The waitress glanced at her chart table, then at Michael and Sara but the couple in front of her had already forgotten her presence. Michael was holding Sara’s hand and, with his free hand, was playing with the fabric of her dress at her waist, dangerously approaching the gap of exposed skin on her side. He whispered something to her ear which made her giggle before she playfully pushed his hand away from her. Not deterred one bit, Michael got closer to Sara and softly kissed her on the lips, only stopping when the waitress asked them to follow her to their table. The woman who hadn’t missed their exchange noticed how Sara rapidly tried to remove her clear lipstick from Michael’s mouth and smiled to herself. Couples in love were her favorite but even she had to admit it – these two were particularly hot together. 

 

Michael and Sara had just started exploring the menu when a waiter approached their table with two flutes of champagne. “Compliments of the Fairmount Copley Plaza”, he simply said before leaving.   
Sara looked at Michael and mirrored his surprised expression. “They’re a little intense. I mean, they give us a room upgrade and now they offer us champagne… I know that my father is somewhat famous but this is a bit more than what I am used to as his daughter. And we’re not even in Illinois. They must really like politics here…”   
Michael who wasn’t familiar with life under the spotlight shrugged and returned his attention to his menu. “Maybe they want to make sure that if he becomes the next vice-president he’s going to stay here when he’s in Boston? You know, the presidential suite?” Looking up at Sara, he then pompously declared: “It is our most magnificent suite!” They were both laughing at Michael’s imitation of Gabriel when the waiter came back to take their orders.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

From the appetizer that they shared to the main courses, everything that they had chosen was amazing and they also appreciated how attentive the restaurant staff had been with them. While the couple was animatedly discussing what they were going to do for the rest of their stay, the waiter brought them another plate and two forks. It was a heart-shaped piece of white chocolate cake with a red sauce. (Raspberry, he explained.) Perplexed not for the first time that day, Sara interrogated the man: “Excuse me but we didn’t ask for this…”  
“I know. Congratulations!”, he replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Sensing that Michael and Sara were not following, he clarified: “it’s the dessert reserved to newly married couples occupying the Museum of Fine Arts suite or the “honeymoon suite” as we prefer to call it.” He examined the couple who still shared the same incredulous expression and suddenly heard them both burst out laughing.  
Seeing his surprise, Sara told the waiter: “Thank you very much for the cake but we’re not married!”  
Confused, the man explained: “Oh, we thought that… We assumed that since you were in the MFA suite and that you… I mean, you do look like you could be here on your honeymoon.” Realizing his error, he started laughing with the couple and asked: “So how long are you in Boston for?”  
“Until the 31st”, Michael replied. “It’s my Christmas present from this beautiful woman!” he added, indicating Sara who blushed instantly.  
“In that case, merry Christmas”, he said to Michael. Then to the both of them he continued: “I hope you enjoy your stay here!”  
Michael and Sara thanked him, finally understanding how mistaken they were earlier. The staff’s attention was not because of Sara’s illustrious last name but because they thought they were newly weds! Trying not to think too much about the waiter’s assumptions, they attacked their dessert which was absolutely delicious.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

While Sara was waiting for Michael to return from the bathroom, one of the waitresses addressed her: “I love your dress!”  
“Thank you! It’s part of John Paul Ataker’s new collection. I love it too.”  
Continuing the conversation, the waitress inquired: “Do you have any other plans for tonight? With a dress like this, you have to go out, right?”  
Sara laughed and said: “Yes, we’re going to a club.” She then showed her black high heels and said: “Although with these, I’m not sure dancing is such a good idea…”  
Philosophically, the young woman stated: “Beauty often comes at a price”.   
“Ha! Yeah, you’re right about that. We’ll see how long I’ll last!”  
“Good luck!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“I had a great time tonight, Sara. Thank you.”   
Michael’s sincere words as they finally returned to their room touched Sara. She had spent a considerable amount of time planning their trip to Boston and their first evening in particular. She therefore appreciated how Michael was grateful of her efforts and didn’t take her for granted. She had not always been that fortunate and had often ended up hurt by less considerate men and bad relationships. She admitted to herself at that moment that she was undeniably in love with Michael and it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Still on a high from their perfect evening so far and overwhelmed by the wonderful recent realization, Sara closed the distance between them and kissed Michael with an intensity that surprised him. Not that he was complaining! He matched her passion and they soon found themselves craving for more than just kisses. Both of them sensed a deeper connection while they made love that night.


	17. Boston – Part Two

Michael and Sara spent their second day in Boston visiting famous neighbourhoods and attractions and reserved their last full day to MIT and Harvard. They started with MIT and spent a couple of hours exploring various parts of campus, enjoying the quiet atmosphere as most students (and professors) were away for the holidays. They didn’t forget to send a picture to Lincoln, as per his earlier request, and opted for a selfie in front of Simmons Hall, a recent construction that had won multiple awards for its unique architectural features. The mission completed, their steps led them to an old building where several artifacts were exhibited. They highlighted MIT’s illustrious past, from famous researchers to important discoveries and Michael couldn’t contain his excitement. He felt like a kid in a candy store! It wasn’t only about MIT’s history, every item on display was about science in general and Michael found that pretty cool. Sara had never been a science geek, she was more into biology, hence her career choice, but upon hearing Michael, she found herself interested in (and understanding) physics, mathematics and technology like never before. From the little twinkle in his eyes to the way his hands excitingly contributed to the stories he was telling, Michael’s enthusiasm was evident and contagious. He had a special talent to explain complex things, all the while without sounding superior. He would have been a great teacher, Sara thought with a smile. If she hadn’t already fallen in love with Michael, their time at MIT would probably have done the trick. Her thoughts were cut short when she saw one of the doors open and a man appear next to them. It was 12:30 pm on December 30th, the place had looked empty and they were shocked to be proven wrong.  
Michael was the first one to speak: “I apologize, sir. I believed that we were alone here.” He looked at the name on the door which read “Dr. Ian A. Waitz” and underneath “Dean, School of Engineering”. It was bad – he hadn’t just disturbed a secretary. “Sorry if we made too much noise and bothered you.”   
“It’s all right, I was just filling some papers. I couldn’t help but hear you talk. You seem extremely knowledgeable. Are you an alumnus? A colleague maybe?”  
“Oh no, just a simple visitor”, Michael said immediately, embarrassed by the whole situation.   
“A simple visitor wouldn’t know so many details”, the man in his early fifties responded, sharply looking Michael in the eyes. “Your descriptions were 100 times better than the ones from the guides we hire for our campus tours. And I will admit that I even learned a thing or two myself. How do you know all this, Mister…?”  
“Scofield, Michael Scofield”, Michael answered, holding his hand in front of him. Dean Waitz introduced himself and the two men shook hands. Sara introduced herself and the two also shook hands.  
“So, Mister Scofield, how do you know all this?”  
“I’m an engineer.” Michael’s words, while accurate, sounded more like a question, as if he knew that his answer wouldn’t completely satisfy his interlocutor. And he was right.  
“I know for a fact that engineers don’t learn all this in school”, he said, indicating the photographs and pieces of equipment that were presented close by.   
“I guess I like to read”, Michael admitted, chuckling nervously.  
“You sure do. Well, enjoy the rest of your visit of MIT!”  
“Thank you!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara was curious so she interrogated Michael when they were leaving the campus cafeteria where they had a very nice lunch: “Do you regret it? Not studying here?”   
“No”, Michael firmly answered. “I still received a great education. I know that Loyola is not as prestigious as other universities like MIT but I loved it there. The profs were not super famous but they were great teachers. And I was able to stay close to my brother and see my nephew grow up. He was just a little kid when I started my undergraduate studies. Even if MIT offered me a full scholarship, I wouldn’t have had the money to go back home on a regular basis and I didn’t want to miss several years of his life. I wouldn’t have been happy here all by myself.” Sara knew how important family was for Michael. It was one of the things she loved about him. “Besides”, he continued, meeting Sara’s eyes, “if I had attended MIT, maybe I wouldn’t have come back to Chicago, which means I would probably have not met you. And that would have been very sad.” Sara didn’t know how to respond to Michael’s statement so she smiled at him and gently kissed him on the lips. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Michael, we need to decide what we’re going to do for tomorrow night.” After an afternoon spent wandering around Harvard they finally sat down for supper at a small yet charming pub near Harvard Square.  
“Right. The costume party that you invited us to…”   
Sara hoped that Michael’s lack of enthusiasm was exaggerated and that he didn’t mind her decision to accept the invitation in the first place. “Come on, it’s going to be fun. Marc knows how to organize a great New Year’s Eve party!”  
“If you say so…” Michael replied, not convinced at all.   
“I was thinking that we could find couple costumes. What do you think?”  
Michael was suddenly interested: “Like Bonnie and Clyde?”  
“Yeah but you know how they died, right?”  
“I know but I’m sure we would be super well dressed!” Sensing Sara’s reluctance, Michael added: “Okay, maybe not them. We could go as King and Queen: we would also have great costumes!”   
“Yeah, yeah. We would.”  
“Wait, I have a better idea! You could be a doctor and I could be your patient…”   
Michael’s eyebrows moved suggestively and Sara couldn’t help but smile. “Then you and I would never happen because that would be completely unethical!”  
“Seriously? You’re insinuating that if we had met at the hospital, we wouldn’t have had a chance?”  
“This is exactly what I’m “insinuating”!” Sara’s laugh was heard across the pub and made a few patrons turn their heads and look in their direction.  
“You know”, Michael started, very serious suddenly, “I would have totally faked an illness just to be able to come back and see you everyday.”  
“Ha! You think you could have fooled me?” Sara replied just as seriously.  
“Oh, I’m sure. You would have been too distracted by my exceptional charm and good looks to notice anything.”  
“You’re so full of yourself, Scofield!”  
“If you prefer, you could be my patient and I could be your physician. Believe me, I wouldn’t have the same dilemma. I would be very professional in my examination of you… and your body.” To prove his point, he grabbed her right hand that was resting on the table, turned it around and pretended to expertly check her pulse.   
Sara shook her head. There was no way to have a serious conversation with Michael when he started behaving like that. She therefore decided to play along just a little. “I’m sure you would be very thorough.”  
“You can never be too thorough!”   
“And what would be your specialty, Dr. Scofield?”  
“Dr. Scofield?” Michael repeated, pensive. “I like the sound of it.” Michael was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t hear the “me too” that Sara pronounced without thinking. “My specialty? I don’t know… Plastics maybe?”  
Sara scoffed. “That’s extremely insulting, Michael!”   
“No, no, no, I didn’t mean in the sense that you need any improvements physically. It’s more that I would then have an excuse to touch your boobs! It’s going to be a long party with lots of people around so I was simply trying to find a way to make it more bearable…”  
“Sorry to burst your bubble but we are not going as physician and patient, regardless of who is the patient and who is the physician. And you will NOT touch my boobs in front of everyone at the party tomorrow!”  
“Come on, Sara!” Michael whined. “It’s not fair. Besides, you’re the one who wanted to pick costumes for couples. So, if we can’t act as a couple, what’s the point?”  
“We can act as a couple but YOU have to behave in an appropriate way.”  
“Define appropriate.” Sara gave him a pointed looked that make him let the topic go, at least for now. “Would that work better if we were to go as students? I have an old “Loyola Engineering” shirt. Retro bowling style. It even has my name on it! Do you have anything from your university days that you could use as part of your costume?”  
Sara thought for a moment, then her face broke into a big grin: “I have a red “Med School Student” tee shirt somewhere. I just need to find it.”  
“Excellent!” Michael exclaimed.   
“Great!” Sara was relieved to see that Michael was beginning to be as excited as her about the upcoming New Year’s Eve party organized by her friend Marc.  
“What about I’m the guy trying to get the totally inaccessible girl (you). That would be a cool idea, don’t you think?”  
“And what, you would spend the evening trying to win me over?”  
“Tell me you wouldn’t like that…” he teased her.  
Sara gave him a playful smile and said: “I’m warning you: you’ll have to work hard if you want me to fall for you.”  
Michael held her gaze and declared: “I always love a good challenge!”   
They were briefly interrupted by the waiter who brought their food: a burger with fries for Michael and a club sandwich with salad for Sara. Looking at Sara in front of him and seeing how happy she seemed, Michael thought that the idea of going to Marc’s costume party the next day was now way more enticing. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Back at the hotel, Michael was methodically packing and Sara was also packing while trying to organize her thoughts. The day had been full of emotions. They had talked about everything and anything, alternating between profound topics and lighter ones. Visiting Harvard, Sara had recalled random conversations she had with her mother many years ago about one place or another and she was grateful that Michael had been with her all along. She didn’t want to sound too emotional but she needed to tell him how she felt about their trip to Boston. “Thank you for going with me to Boston and to Harvard in particular, Michael. I enjoyed spending the last few days here with you.” It wasn’t a grand declaration of love but it already took Sara all of her courage to pronounce those words and she hoped that he understood how much more she meant.   
“You kind of invited me so I couldn’t say “no”, could I?” He stopped folding his clothes and walked towards Sara, his eyes never leaving hers. “More seriously”, he continued, gently taking her hands in his, “I know it was special for you to be here and I’m glad that I could share this with you. I’m the one who should be thanking you because this was the best Christmas present ever. And that says a lot because I really love the tie that you’ve offered me!”  
Of course, Sara thought, you can always count on Michael Scofield to make you smile, especially at a charged time like that. She didn’t know what the future held for them but she knew that the trip to Boston was a turning point in their relationship. She had loved every minute of it and felt closer to Michael than ever. Despite their best intentions and commendable efforts, they never finished the box of condoms that Michael had given to Sara for Christmas. They would have to continue “using” his present when they got back to Chicago. For their last night in Boston, Michael held Sara in his arms until she fell asleep, both silently revelling in the wonderful moments that they had recently experienced together.


	18. New Year’s Eve

“Show me your bowling shirt, Michael!”  
Michael disappeared in his bedroom and returned with a light blue shirt on a hanger. It had “Michael” written in white on one of the breast pockets. “Loyola Engineering” was on the back, also in white.  
“What do you think?”  
“Honestly?” Michael nodded. “It’s not pretty”, Sara chuckled, not bothering to lie. “BUT”, she continued, raising her index finger, “it’s exactly what we need for your costume! Would you have a long sleeve tee-shirt to put underneath by any chance?”  
Michael didn’t question Sara and left the living room again. He came back a minute later wearing a gray long sleeve tee shirt and buttoning the shirt up. Sara stared at him for a moment, slightly tilting her head to the side while she was evaluating Michael’s costume. “Hum, not bad. But I think you should tuck your shirt in your pants. It would be even better!”  
“Even better?!” Michael inquired as he did what Sara had suggested.  
“Well, even worse, if you prefer. We need to sell the nerd look and nerds tend to have a terrible sense of fashion…”  
Michael finished his task and asked: “So?”  
Sara looked at him and giggled. “Perfect”, she said, proud of herself.  
“Perfectly ridiculous you mean?”  
“Come on, Michael. It’s a costume. It doesn’t say anything about you personally!”  
“If you say so…”  
“By the way, buying an old Engineering textbook at that second-hand bookstore near Harvard Square was pure genius: it will be a great addition to your costume.”  
Michael took the book that Sara was handing him. “What do you think now?”  
“Hum, wait a second!” Sara opened Michael’s messenger bag and searched its content. She found his eyeglasses case and gave it to him. “Put your glasses on”, she instructed. “They’re going to complete your look beautifully.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Promise me you’re not going to laugh, Michael. Okay? Clearly I was wearing my shirts way more tightly at the time…”  
Michael looked up from the magazine he was reading and stared at Sara. Laughing was the last thing on his mind at that moment. Sara was standing in from of him with her red “Med School Student” tee-shirt and a pair of faded jeans, lightly ripped at the thighs. It’s true that the tee-shirt was tight (and a little short, barely reaching her belt) but not in a bad way. On the contrary, Michael thought. He wasn’t about to complain because Sara looked very HOT! “Wow! I’m not sure how I’m going to keep my hands off you tonight... This is pure torture, Sara! Your boobs… They look even bigger in that tee-shirt!”  
“If you behave tonight, maybe I’ll let you touch them when we get back…” Sara leaned into him and seductively kissed the corner of his mouth. Michael groaned. She knew exactly how to tease him but two could play that game and he intended to make her pay later…

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Sara! Michael!” A cheery Marc greeted the couple at the door of his apartment. He had clearly started drinking more than soda. “Welcome! You can use the first room on the left to get ready. I’ll be waiting for you with shots of tequila!”  
Michael and Sara finalized their costumes: Michael took his glasses and his textbook from his bag pack and Sara put an old stethoscope (her first one!) around her neck. Satisfied with the final result, they made their way to the large kitchen area where Marc had indeed prepared three little glasses for them.  
“I love your costume, Marc!”  
A proud Marc responded: “Thanks, Sara!” He eyed Michael and Sara up and down and pronounced his verdict after a short reflection: “You look great, Sara! You could easily pass as a Med School student. You don’t seem one day over 20!”  
“You’re a liar, Marc. But thank you!”  
“On the other hand, you, my friend”, Marc continued, giving a disapproving look at Michael, “you usually dress much better than that!”  
Michael chuckled and nodded. “Tell me about it... Sara is the one responsible for the “nerdy” look, shirt tucked in and all.”  
Sara explained the concept of their couple costumes and Marc’s face brightened. “This is good. This is very good! Pushing the envelope even further by adding fake Ray Ban glasses to perfect the look? That’s brilliant!”  
“Oh no, the glasses are real, Marc! They’re Michael’s.”  
The three downed their shots and while Michael was busy filling their glasses again, Marc mouthed to Sara, indicating his eyes: “Sexy!” Sara giggled. Yes, her boyfriend, despite his unflattering outfit, was terribly attractive with his glasses. She was going to have a hard time keeping her hands off him.  
“Michael, tell me: how are you going to “win Sara over”?”  
“That’s a good question”, he replied. They hadn’t thought about that but Michael’s quick thinking offered them an answer: “I could try different pick-up lines with you and when you find them funny and they make you smile (or laugh), I win and you have to take a shot.”  
Sara’s retort came instantly: “What if I don’t find them funny?”  
“I guess I take a shot. What do you say, Marc?”  
“I say that should be fun and you’re going to get so druuuunk, my friends!”  
“There’s a good chance of that!” Sara’s laugh warmed Michael’s heart. It was going to be a good night, a night to remember!

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Sara”, Michael said as Marc was out of earshot, “what is Marc’s costume?”  
Sara looked in Marc’s direction. He was now talking to a small group of men in the living room. “I have no idea!”  
“But you said you loved it…”  
“I did and I think he looks great in his costume but I have no clue what his costume is about.”  
“I’ll drink to that”, Michael responded, raising his glass and downing it rapidly.  
“I’m ready when you are, Michael. Show me how you can flirt…”  
“Okay… Here it goes: you look familiar. Didn’t we take a class together? I could have sworn we had chemistry.”  
Sara frowned, exaggerating the expression and succeeding in looking the part of the hot girl hit on by an annoying guy.  
Unfazed, Michael tried again: “Did you come out of the oven because you’re hot!”  
“Hum” was all Sara replied, still unimpressed.  
Michael took another shot and declared: “I blame you for global warming… Your hotness is too much for the planet too handle!” Sara did not even dignify his effort by a reaction. Another shot. “What about this: is it hot in here or is it just you?”  
“Okay, Michael. Come clean: have you learned all the “hot” pick-up lines in existence?”  
“You’re going to laugh but Sucre offered me a book for Christmas last year: “Pick-up lines for success” it was ironically called. Sucre still gloats about his “useful” present from time to time. I might have read the book, simply out of curiosity…”  
“I never saw the book at your place. Did you hide it?” Michael’s eyes briefly widened. He had been exposed! “I will assume that there was a section of lines with the adjective “hot” in it…”  
“Yep”, he replied, lowering his head before drinking again.  
Marc had returned to the kitchen, having spied on Michael and Sara on several occasions. “You should probably revise the penalty for when one of you loses: maybe a sip will be enough? I’m only saying that because I would like you to make it to 2017 alive!”  
Michael nodded. He was already starting to feel the effect of the three consecutive shots of alcohol. Sara nodded too and Michael tried to have her drink (after all she had smiled) but Sara didn’t budge: only pick-up lines were part of the game.  
“Hey guys!” A familiar voice interrupted the group. Ali walked purposefully in their direction and greeted them with a proud grin, turning around so that they could fully admire her costume for the night. It was a bright orange prison uniform. “D.O.C” was written in bold letters on the back and her name tag in the front read “Chapman”.  
“Hello, Piper!” Marc said, not missing a beat. He had to admit that with her blonde hair arranged in a pony tail, she looked a lot like a certain character of the same name. “You really know how to make a horrible costume sexy again!”  
“You know what they say, right?” Sara looked at Marc and paused for a second before winking at him and saying: “Orange is the new black...”  
Sara explained their costumes again and Ali came to the same conclusion as Marc: Michael and Sara would probably have a terrible headache the following day… The group welcome two other persons and the conversation moved to more mundane topics.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“I’m no mathematician but I’m pretty good with numbers. Why don’t you give me yours and watch what I can do with it?”  
Sara tried hard but she couldn’t suppress a small smile to appear on her lips. She knew the consequence and took a sip of her tequila in front of a satisfied Michael. He hadn’t been very successful so far and had drunk more than his fair share. That only seemed to inspire him more, with various outcomes…  
“You remind me of a magnet, because you sure are attracting me over here!”  
Sara shook her head vigorously. Michael took another sip.  
“If I told you that you had a great body, would you hold it against me?”  
Sara managed to keep a straight face despite the fact that she found the last line a little amusing and Michael’s efforts more than laudable. Michael drank some more.  
“If you were a burger at McDonald’s, you would be McGorgeous!”  
“I don’t like burgers, Michael” Sara replied, pretending to be sad for Michael’s poor results.  
“The hot med school student is unbreakable. Another sip for the nerd!” He was beginning to sound a little tipsy and he knew it. “Don’t worry, I’m still warming up! Pun intended!” He winked at Sara who suppressed a smile. “Besides, I don’t want you to be drunk before me…”  
“So what, you’re taking one (or two) for the team?”  
“Something like that…” He gazed at Sara with intense eyes and Sara forgot for a second that she couldn’t succumb to Michael’s charm, at least not yet. She was having a lot of fun and by the look on Michael’s face she knew that he was having fun too. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Damn, if being sexy was a crime, you would be guilty as charged!” Sara frowned. Michael quickly added: “And I would have to arrest you immediately!” Michael looked at her suggestively and Sara raised one eyebrow, silently saying “really?!” “Come on, that could be… enjoyable… You know, you, me and a mandatory body search…”  
As if on cue, Ali arrived and didn’t lose a minute before asking: “So? How is he doing?”  
“Not so great, I’m afraid”, Sara replied as Michael downed the rest of his glass. Ali poured a glass for herself and left them alone again.  
“Okay, no cop and convict. You know, as much as you don’t like the idea, comparatively, the doctor-patient relationship is perfectly normal!” Sara smiled, which encouraged Michael to continue with his tirade. He had no idea where it would lead him but he went for it. “But if we want to stay with the prison theme, you could be a prison doctor and I could be an inmate.” He pointed at Ali who was animatedly talking with a man and a woman, both dressed as zombies.  
“Now we’re in prison, Michael?” Sara chuckled. “You know, that would still be unethical.” She was often surprised by how Michael could jump from one idea to the next. It seemed that under the influence of alcohol his mind was even more all over the map!  
“Imagine the scene, Sara: you and me in the prison infirmary… Don’t tell me you wouldn’t find the idea of us there exciting…” Michael gave her another very suggestive look (the kind that she found hard to resist to), then he continued: “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t be in prison for something violent. No. Maybe I would have robbed a bank or something. I would be sitting on the examination table and you would put the curtain up. You know, so that we would get some privacy since you would have “ordered” me to take my shirt off. The always professional doctor tending to her patient’s injury. But then…” Michael paused and got even closer to Sara, putting his hands on either side of her body and whispering in her ear seductively. “Then, I would totally surprise you and kiss you. And you wouldn’t resist. No, you would kiss me back. Passionately.” With his last words, Michael put some distance between their bodies, smugly smiling as he saw Sara’s flustered look, and when he spoke again it was in a normal (and even cheery) voice: “Payback is a bitch, huh, Tancredi? Now if you excuse me, I need to use the bathroom before it’s time to welcome 2017!”  
Sara groaned (very loudly). “I hate you, Scofield!”  
Michael was already on his way when he looked at Sara over his shoulder, his signature smile plastered in his face. “No, you don’t!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Listen up, everyone!” Marc’s voice raised above all others from the living room. “Five minutes left before 2017! Five minutes!”  
“Phew, I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it before the new year. Sorry, I wasn’t the only one waiting for the bathroom! What did I miss?”  
“I was just telling Ali about our trip to Boston. And she told me about her trip to Philadelphia to see her family.”  
“Yeah, Sara explained how you ended up in the “honeymoon suite” and how the restaurant staff treated you like newly weds. Hilarious!”  
“We had a very pleasant stay, that’s all I’m going to say”, Michael mysteriously added.  
“Thank you. I don’t need any details. And Michael, friendly advice: stop staring at Sara’s boobs! That’s not a good way to seduce a woman.”  
Turning to completely face Sara, Michael declared with all the seriousness he could muster after several shots of alcohol: “Oh, I’m not staring at your boobs, Sara. I’m staring at your heart.” Michael had the biggest grin on his face soon after and Sara’s lips slowly morphed into a genuine smile. How could she not smile? Michael indicated her glass on the counter and Sara drank everything, feeling the burning liquid going down her throat.  
“Okay, see you later, love birds! I’m going to say hi to Marc’s friend over there. He’s just back from Berlin.”  
“Now that we’re alone again, ready for one last attempt to be seduced in 2016, Sara?”  
“Let’s see if we can finish on a high note!”  
“Your lips look so lonely… Would they like to meet mine?”  
It was a terrible line but Sara smiled nonetheless. Maybe it wasn’t the line. Most likely it was the man who had pronounced those words. Michael handed her a newly filled glass and they toasted to 2016 before downing their drink. Sara glanced at Michael and that was her first mistake because she saw him staring at her lips. His intentions were very clear. After all, his pick-up line said as much. Her second mistake was to let him play with her hair, something that he always seemed to do very gently. She closed her eyes for a second and felt her resolve abandon her. Michael had the softest lips and kissing him was so tempting.  
“Two minutes, guys!”  
Marc had just broken the spell. Michael straightened a bit, putting some space between their bodies, and nervously adjusting his glasses on his nose.  
“What about some last pictures of 2016?”  
“Yes, good idea”, Sara agreed.  
Michael grabbed his phone in his jeans pocket and took several pictures. Most were of Sara but she insisted that they also took a few selfies. Michael did his best to make Sara laugh just before he was about to take the pictures and they barely had time to examine the collection of photographs that the count down started…  
“10, 9, 8, 7.” Michael put the phone back in his pocket. “6, 5, 4.” Sara faced Michael, counting with him. “3, 2, 1.” They both stopped counting, seemingly lost in each other’s eyes. “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!” was heard from all parts of the apartment.  
“Happy new year, Michael!” Sara’s voice was soft and Michael smiled.  
“Happy new year, Sara!” His tone echoed Sara’s and Sara quickly put her arms around Michael’s neck finally bringing his mouth towards hers. They spent the next few minutes kissing with all the passion that had been refrained since the beginning of the evening. Everything else was forgotten. Lips and tongues were caught in a sensual dance that was so satisfying after the distance that they had voluntarily put between themselves before. While Michael’s hands chastely rested on Sara’s hips at first, they ultimately travelled under her tee shirt when the intensity of the kiss increased. Sara reacted by getting closer to Michael if that was possible and softly touching his short hair on his head. She loved to touch his hair. They both would have stayed in that blissful state if they hadn’t been rather rudely brought back to reality by none other than the host of the party.  
“Hey, you’re not in your honeymoon suite here. Turn down the heat, please!”  
Michael and Sara reluctantly broke their kiss and turned to look at the intruder. They looked dazed for a second before Sara spoke for the both of them: “Happy new year!” They all hugged and wished each other the best for the new year. Marc introduced his friend Vasilyi to the couple and more hugs and wishes were exchanged. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Hey Michael, are you drinking without me?!”  
“It’s not my fault, Sara, I swear! Ali forced me.”  
“He didn’t need a lot of convincing…”  
“So what are we toasting to?”  
“To 2017, may it be the best year for all of us!”  
The trio raised their glasses and drank in one big gulp their tequila.  
“When are you leaving for New York?”  
“On Friday afternoon”, Sara replied.  
“I hope the bed in our room is as comfortable as the one in Boston. It was soooooo good!”  
Sara gave Michael an accusing look, clearly not amused by Michael’s (barely disguised) mention of their sex life.  
“Oh please, I don’t want to know what you, straight people, do in your bedroom!”  
“I only said the bed was comfortable!” Michael defended himself, rather unconvincingly so he opted for a better tactic: diversion. “Okay, okay. I have another line!” Michael exclaimed enthusiastically. “I think you’re suffering from a lack of vitamin Me.”  
“Poor you, Sara. That’s terrible!” Ali look at Michael and shook her head, laughing softly. “At the same time, what can you expect from the guy who asked you if you wanted to share the last table at Starbucks?”  
Offended, Michael replied: “I can’t believe you told her that, Sara!”  
Sara didn’t reply. She only took another sip of her drink. With that, Ali excuse herself and the couple resumed their favorite activity.  
“Good thing you’re a doctor because I think I just broke my leg falling for you.”  
“Oh god! Please tell me you’re not going to use medical pick-up lines now?”  
“Why not? You don’t want to hear that I hope you know CPR because you take my breath away?”  
“Oh Michael, it’s a good thing I already know you. Otherwise between your current style and your horrible pick-up lines…”  
“Sorry but I need to do something for my shirt. It’s killing me. It’s so uncomfortable!” He didn’t wait and untucked his shirt with a big sigh of relief.  
Michael looked considerably better suddenly, not that he looked bad before but let’s just say that it wasn’t Sara’s favorite style. It was a wonderful costume though! She was admiring her sexy boyfriend when she heard: “What are you doing for the rest of your life?” Michael was staring at her, as if he was giving her time to think of an answer that he soon provided himself: “Because I want to spend it with you.” Sara’s eyes widened as she heard Michael’s words. She knew that it was part of Michael’s attempts to make her laugh or smile but what he said and the way he said it, it felt all too real. Because it wouldn’t take a lot of imagination to picture herself spending the rest of her life with him. Seeing Sara’s reaction and realizing at the same time that his pick-up line was probably too close to what he was feeling, Michael opted to make light of the situation: “You’re right, that wasn’t funny.” He took another sip and continued: “Let’s see if this one is better… You’re a Med school student? Do you need someone to help you study anatomy?” It wasn’t the kind of humour she would normally laugh at but again, Michael’s eyebrows suggestively moving up and down made her laugh. She took a sip and Michael refilled their glasses smiling to himself. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Of all the systems in the human body, you know which one I’m the most interested in?” Sara shook her head, clueless. “The reproductive system! What do you say we find a quiet space and test how it works?”  
Sara looked at him with round eyes and once again, she had a hard time discerning between their game and reality. Michael looked dead serious but his expression soon changed as he burst out laughing, Sara quickly joining him. “At first I thought that it was an actual proposal. A very indecent proposal. But then I realized that it was only part of our little game.”  
“Why can’t it be both?”  
“Michael, we are NOT going to have sex in one of Marc’s bedrooms!”  
“Who talked about the bedrooms? The bathroom is… nice… Large counter space…”  
Sara briefly contemplated what Michael had just suggested. Then she thought about how she would react knowing that one of her friends secretly had sex at her place and she dismissed Michael’s idea, regardless how tempting it was. For more emphasis, she rolled her eyes and said: “Patience, Scofield. Behave and maybe we’ll test the reproductive system soon, minus the surprise in 9 months of course.”  
“We still have to finish your little present so the “surprise” in 9 months shouldn’t happen. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t practice, you know, for when we’re ready!”  
Sara smiled despite herself and shook her head. Her attention turned to Ali, Marc and his friend walking towards the kitchen, happy for a break in their game. Sara was proud of her self-control so far. She knew that drinking more was a bad idea if she wanted to keep her resolve but she was too far gone to care at that point. An additional shot wouldn’t make much of a difference, right? Besides, would it be so bad to be seduced by “super nerd” Michael Scofield?  
“Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?” Michael had whispered the question in her ear in an attempt to continue their game of seduction without their friends suspecting a thing.  
Sara smiled. Yeah, everything he was saying now seemed to make her smile. She lost herself in his eyes for a second and waited for his next line, while she took one more sip.  
“I hope that you’re planning on specializing in cardiology because you’re sure to break a lot of hearts!”  
Sara couldn’t help but laugh out loud in front of her friends who were in a middle of a discussion about various Cirque du Soleil shows. Sara was aware that her reaction obviously indicated that they were having their own private conversation. Oops, she thought, so much for being discreet.  
They locked eyes and Sara was surprised by the intensity in his gaze. They were physically very close now, blocking everything else but the two of them. That being said, Marc, Ali and Vasilyi were right next to them and they found the couple very amusing, to say the least.  
“How does it feel to be the most amazing woman here?”  
“You don’t know most women here, Michael.”  
“True. Let me rephrase then: how does it feel to be the most beautiful woman here tonight?”  
“Hey, that’s very insulting for me!”  
“Sorry, sorry, Ali”, Michael tried to apologize, finally acknowledging the woman’s presence. “What about this, Sara: how does it feel to be the most beautiful straight woman here?” He looked at Ali when he finished to talk.  
“That’s better”, replied Ali. “And that’s our cue to leave!”  
Michael and Sara didn’t even notice the not so subtle disappearance of their friends. Sara still hadn’t said a word and Michael repeated his question. Maybe she hadn’t heard him?  
That time, Sara answered, albeit a little unsure: “That’s sweet but it’s not funny”.  
Michael thought about their game and he decided that he had enough with the ambiguity of some of his pick-up lines. He didn’t want to play anymore. He wanted to tell her how he felt. He wanted to tell her how he truly felt. “It wasn’t meant to be funny, Sara. I think you’re the most beautiful woman here tonight.”  
Sara swallowed with difficulty. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for a serious conversation, which seemed to be where they were headed. “Are we done with your pick-up lines then? Do you admit defeat?” She smirked to emphasize the light-hearted nature of her questions.  
“Oh Sara, I don’t think there are any losers in this game…” He gave her a sweet (almost shy) smile and put a strand of hair behind her ear. His face got closer to her and their lips finally connected. The kiss started slowly but Michael and Sara needed more than a somewhat chaste kiss at that point. They continued kissing for a minute or two, forgetting where they were and ignoring that their behavior was probably not appropriate for a public space. When they broke the kiss, they looked at each other and finding the situation comical they burst out laughing.  
“God, I love to hear you laugh”, Michael declared. With that, Michael’s lips captured Sara’s in an instant for another kiss. That time, the kiss was shorter yet still full of passion. “I love you”, he eventually said, looking up at Sara.  
To say that Sara was surprised by the words and the raw honesty that she saw in Michael’s eyes would be the understatement of the century. Maybe all the alcohol that they had ingested since the beginning of the party was getting to their head. “You are drunk, Michael”, she said, offering him an escape. Maybe he had been caught in the moment, she thought.  
“I am a little drunk but it doesn’t mean that it’s less true. I love you, Sara.” He flinched at the idea of Sara not taking him seriously. He had never been so sure of anything in his life. And it wasn’t the alcohol talking. Definitely not.  
“I’ll tell you what, Michael. If you remember this tomorrow and you still feel the same, say these words again and I promise that I will react more properly this time.”  
“Okay. And for your information, I have an excellent memory!”


	19. January 1st

The first thing Sara noticed when she woke up and opened one eye was that she was in her bed. That was good considering that she didn’t remember getting back to her apartment. The second thing she noticed was that she was completely lying ON Michael. He was acting as her own mattress! That was definitely not how they slept. She contemplated the situation for a second before realizing what she was wearing under the sheets. Only her bra and panties. She didn’t remember undressing either. Finally fully coming to her senses, Sara felt Michael’s hands on her body, his left hand comfortably between her shoulder blades while the other one was insolently resting on her left buttock. The latter part was unequivocally new! She tried to shift a bit but the sudden move made Michael unconsciously tighten his grip on her body. Desperate to change positions, she tried to wake him up. It took her three attempts before the calls reached his brain.  
“What?” he asked, a little confused. His voice sounded sleepy and he seemed to have a hard time opening both eyes at the same time.  
“Can you let me go, please?”  
“What? Why?”  
Sara didn’t have the patience for Michael’s unresponsive state. Not after the night they had. With less sympathy in her tone, she warned him: “Michael, your hands.” He lifted his left hand up, allowing his index finger to remain in contact with her naked back until the very last moment. “The other one too”, Sara added.  
“Oops, sorry.” He chuckled softly before explaining: “I was in the middle of a beautiful dream, Sara. We were on a hammock, relaxing, and I thought you were going to fall down so I tried to hold on to you…”  
“Michael, I’m not going to fall down so you can let me go now”, Sara finished with a smile.  
“Yeah, sorry”, he replied with a smile of his own.  
Sara let herself fall on her side next to Michael and quickly checked under the sheets. Michael’s chest was bare but he still had his jeans on. They were unbuttoned and the flyer was half-way down. Hum, what happened last night, Sara wondered.  
Following Sara’s gaze, Michael glanced at his lower body and shared her confusion. He had no recollection of the two of them making it to Sara’s bedroom. “Do you think we…” He didn’t finish his sentence, afraid to articulate his suspicions.  
“I don’t think so. I mean, I could be wrong but we seem to be too dressed to have engaged in this kind of activity. That being said, it appears that we intended to…” Sara pointed at their two bodies and then at the night table next to Michael where his Christmas gift was displayed. The little box (and its precious content) was inside the drawer when they left for the party so they obviously took it out when they came back. But it wasn’t open so…  
Michael pondered the situation and mumbled: “You’re probably right.” He slowly rubbed his eyes trying to clear his mind. “Do you think we passed out before we could actually, you know, go any further?”  
Sara giggled. “That’s quite possible!”  
“I hope we didn’t do anything”, Michael said.  
His tone was unexpectedly serious which surprised Sara in return. “Why? You’re usually the first one to initiate sex!”  
Michael scoffed. “One, I’m not always the first one to initiate anything. You… You also play a part. Two, I would rather remember it if we made love. But, in any case, I’m sure it was great!”  
“If you say so…” Sara teased Michael. “I’m going to take a shower. Maybe it will clear the fog that’s currently in my head.”  
Michael moved and put his head on the other pillow, “Sara’s pillow”. It smelled good and he quickly fell back asleep with a smile on his lips.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

A quick “nap” and a shower later, Michael felt much better. He prepared his breakfast which consisted of orange juice and toasted bread, lightly buttered and with a touch of honey. He then joined Sara on the couch in the living room. She was nursing a cup of hot coffee and fondly looked at Michael.  
“I finally feel like a human being again”, she said.  
“Me too.”  
Sara desperately wanted to ask Michael what he remembered from their New Year’s Eve party. She hoped that he could enlighten her because her memories were very incomplete. She started in a non-committal way: “I have no idea when or how we got back here…”  
“Same.” He stared in front of him, his thoughts far from the living room and Sara’s apartment. “There are some parts missing…”  
“I hear you. What do you remember?”  
“I remember me trying all kinds of pick-up lines on you.” Michael silently chuckled as he recalled a few of his most “brilliant” (or unsuccessful) lines.  
“I remember drinking. A LOT.”  
“I remember that too. It’s a miracle that I’m not hung over right now. Thank you by the way for the sports drink and the painkillers. That was you, right?”  
They had indeed found an empty Gatorade on the counter in the bathroom with an open bottle of Advil (extra strength!) next to it.  
“I guess it was me but I have no recollection of anything to that effect…”  
“Well, it appears that even terribly drunk, Dr. Tancredi is amazing!” They both chuckled softly, amused by their predicament. Resuming their conversation, Michael offered: “I remember kissing you! A LOT.” A smile appeared on his face as he reminisced about the events of the night. “I hope you remember that!”  
“I remember kissing you in the kitchen at midnight!” Sara answered confidently. Their first kiss of 2017 had been passionate and she was glad that it was very present in her mind. If she recalled correctly, it had unfortunately been interrupted by Marc but, in retrospect, she thought it was okay as things would have probably escalated dangerously otherwise.  
Always ready for a friendly verbal battle, Michael countered: “I remember our kiss in the kitchen at midnight and I also remember kissing you in other places in the apartment.”  
The expression on Michael’s face indicated that he was clearly pleased. Sara even thought that he looked proud of himself. Her eyes grew wide. She remembered them kissing in the kitchen but did they really kiss elsewhere? She did not seem to remember and she wondered for a second if Michael was playing tricks on her. “And where did we kiss according to you?”  
“We kissed on the couch in the living room.” He looked at Sara who was sitting next to him and shifted on the couch to get closer to her. His right hand gently put a strand of hair behind her ear, never breaking eye contact. Sara was surprised by his sudden move and questioned him with her eyes. Yes, he was going to kiss her like he apparently did the night before.  
Sara was the one who put an end to the kiss. She needed to know what happened at the party before continuing on that path. “That was a great kiss”, she started. Of course, it was a great kiss, she thought. Most kisses with Michael were. “But I have no memory of it whatsoever.”  
“Are you serious?! That’s a shame. Do you remember our little “heated moment” in the hallway by Marc’s bedroom?”  
“What?!” Sara almost shouted.  
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember that either!”  
“Michael, are you sure about that? Did we really do what you’re saying we did? You’re sure you didn’t dream that, just like you dreamt we were in a hammock?”  
“Sara, I’m sure. Many things are not clear in my mind but this, this is very clear. We did kiss in the hallway and let me tell you, it was HOT!”  
Sara frowned. “I wish I remembered!”  
“Maybe if we re-enact it, it will help you remember?”  
“Ha ha, nice try, Scofield! I can see that the amount of alcohol ingested yesterday hasn’t slowed you down one bit.”  
“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying!”  
Michael was disappointed. He was disappointed with Sara’s “amnesia” and, more specially, with her lack of enthusiasm in repeating the scene. Michael thought that their “heated moment” had been one to remember (pun intended, he smiled to himself) and certainly one to repeat. He recalled how Sara had her back to the wall and how he had started kissing her like there was no tomorrow. He could still feel her hands on his face, on his hair, on his chest. Just thinking about it, he was breathing a little faster. He tried to prevent his mind from visualizing what he did with his hands. He failed miserably. It was only bits and pieces, flashes of what occurred, but he could see one of his hands grabbing Sara’s buttock while the other one sneaked underneath her tee shirt, indecently moving up. He put an end to his daydream before his hand reached her breast. He was about to show her what was on his mind but Sara got up from the couch, taking Michael’s plate and hers as well as her cup. He would have to wait a little longer…  
Michael followed her to the kitchen with his empty glass. He rinsed it and refilled it with water. He took another glass from the cupboard for Sara and filled it with water too. They silently took a few sips next to each other, both with their backs to the counter top. Michael wasn’t as interested as Sara in trying to remember everything that had happened the night before. His memories so far were very pleasant and that was enough for him. Michael sighed contentedly. Sara was by his side, life was good. Despite his initial reluctance, he had a lot of fun at Marc’s party, including planning the costumes and their “role playing” all evening. His reverie was abruptly cut short when Sara burst out laughing.  
“I just remembered one of your lines!” she exclaimed. She turned her head to better look at him when she spoke: “The one when you told me that we should test the reproductive system!”  
“Ha! One of my finer moments!” Michael raised his index finger for more emphasis. He chuckled as he recalled the event. “You know, it’s now the second time I’ve asked you to go and have sex at a party and you turned me down both times.” He pretended to pout for good measure.  
“But don’t let that discourage you from asking again”, she replied, her hand seductively caressing his arm. “You never know, I might say yes one day!” She winked at Michael when he looked at her. She soon lost herself in his big blue eyes and next thing she knew she was kissing him hungrily. Michael quickly recovered from the surprise and kissed her back with passion, finally allowing his desire to take over. They would probably have ended having sex in the kitchen if Michael hadn’t put a halt to their most recent “heated moment”.  
Michael had an unreadable expression on his face and Sara worried for a second. “What is it?” she asked.  
“I just remembered something else…” he started, unsure. He cleared his throat, worried about what he was going to say and worried about Sara. She could have chosen to “forget” the moment that had suddenly resurfaced in his consciousness. If that was the case, it wasn’t good, Michael pondered. No, it wasn’t good if Sara pretended not to remember that moment.  
Michael’s expression had not given out any clues as to what he was about to tell Sara and for an unexplainable reason she knew it was important. “Is there something wrong, Michael?”  
“No, no, everything’s fine”, he replied, not sounding very convincing. “It’s just that we kissed in the kitchen and then we laughed because…”  
“Because we had too much to drink?” Sara offered, hoping that her attempt to lighten the mood would be effective.  
“That surely helped! No, I think we laughed because the kiss was probably more appropriate for a private setting than a party full of people.”  
“How inappropriate was it?”  
“Well…”  
“Did we make fools of ourselves in front of everyone?”  
“No, no, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. Maybe nobody saw us? But one thing for sure is that we may have behaved more like horny teenagers than responsible adults…”  
“Oh god…” Sara looked horrified for a second. After all, she was the one who told Michael that public displays of affection should be limited to the strict minimum at her father’s Christmas party. She hadn’t even wanted to be seen kissing Michael at the time. She knew that her kiss with Michael at midnight had been a little… over the top but it was a “happy new year kiss” so she concluded that it didn’t count. She couldn’t recall kissing Michael at any other time and if what he said was true, she didn’t have any excuses for getting “caught in the moment” in the other instances. Well, other than the obvious one: that she was terribly attracted to Michael! It’s not just that she was worried about the Governor’s daughter being spotted kissing a man at a party, it’s that she usually preferred to be without an audience when she decided to wildly kiss her boyfriend.  
Michael continued: “Anyways, we kissed, we laughed and I told you that I love your laugh and…” Sara glanced at Michael, expectantly waiting for him to resume his narration. “And then I kissed you again and I… I told you that I love you.” Sara’s eyes grew wide. She never saw that one coming. He scratched the back of his head. “Sara, listen, I’m sorry. You know, the alcohol…”  
“It’s okay, Michael”, she cut him. “You don’t have anything to explain. We had too much to drink and we both said or did things that we didn’t mean to.” Her feelings for Michael were stronger after Boston and she had just admitted to herself that she was in love with him. As a result, regardless of the context in which Michael had uttered those three words, and regardless if she was able to remember anything or not, it broke her heart that he seemed to regret pronouncing them in the first place.  
Michael’s gaze hadn’t left Sara the whole time and when she finally looked up at him and their eyes briefly met, Michael saw disappointment and sadness in them. It was gone in an instant and Sara took a deep inspiration before starting to move away from the kitchen counter top. Michael reacted on pure instinct and grabbed her hand. She felt his fingers slowly intertwine with hers and she stared at their hands, more confused than ever. “Sara”, Michael said in a soft voice. “Sara”, he repeated, willing her to finally look at him. “Let me start all over again. I’m not sorry that I told you that I love you yesterday. I’m sorry that I told you that while we were far from being sober. You told me as much by the way yesterday. You said that it wasn’t the right time and you were absolutely correct. I shouldn’t have said what I said yesterday but I guess with the alcohol in my system, I got caught in the moment or something.” He was rambling and he knew it so he took a short pause to re-arrange his thoughts. He swallowed and continued, with more assurance that time: “What I’m trying to say is that I’m aware it’s still early in our relationship but this is what I feel. This is how I feel about you. It’s real, Sara. You and me, it’s real. I love you. That being said, I don’t want you to feel pressured to say anything back. We only met two months ago after all. But I want you to know that…”  
Sara’s lips on his cut him mid-sentence but it didn’t matter because she already knew what she needed to know. Her hands cupped his face and she kissed him hard, relieved and overjoyed at the same time. Michael didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence and he contemplated for a second if it was important. Given Sara’s reaction, he decided that it was not and that he should stop overthinking things. He kissed her back and felt her body melt against his. They stopped and Sara looked at him straight in the eyes. “I love you too”, she simply said.  
Michael stared at her, stunned by the revelation. He put his hands on both sides of her head, holding her hair in place, and gave her a small smile before leaning forward to kiss her one more time. “That’s definitely a better reaction than yesterday!”, Michael declared when they finally broke the kiss and he took her in his arms.  
Sara laughed in the crook of his neck. “What was my reaction yesterday?”  
“You didn’t react. Not really. You said that if I remembered telling you “I love you” tomorrow, today I guess, that I should repeat it and then you would react “more properly”. I directly quote you here.”  
Sara laughed again. “So how did you react to my non-existent reaction?”  
“I told you that I had an excellent memory!”  
“Clearly better than mine in any case…”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The first movie that they had picked was sweet and funny. It was a great distraction and it let them enjoy being together without having to talk, which after their earlier conversation was appreciated. They were now 30 minutes into their second movie and while the story was not the most credible it was entertaining. Better yet, The Martian provided them with more time to process what they had confessed to each other. Wow, Sara thought. Michael told her he loved her AND she told him she loved him too. That was big! That was huge! She smiled without even realizing it and Michael noticed it immediately. If he had to be honest, his focus was more on the gorgeous woman sitting next to him than on the ridiculous movie on the screen. Consequently, when he saw her smile at a very tense moment, he knew that Sara’s attention was on something else, just like his was. He shifted on the couch to have a better look at her and joked: “Poor Matt Damon is fighting for his life and you’re smiling. I thought you were more compassionate than that, Dr. Tancredi!”  
“Oh please, don’t pretend that you’re enthralled by the script!”  
“Well… He he! No, not really. But then again, I don’t have a crush on Matt Damon!”  
“I do NOT have a crush on Matt Damon but I like him as an actor. I’ve liked him ever since I watched Good Will Hunting.”  
“Ha! Good Will Hunting… Good movie.”  
“Do you mind pausing the movie for a bit?”  
“Sure. I could use a break to stretch my legs and maybe prepare something to eat too.”  
“Sounds like a good plan.”

 

They made their way to the kitchen where they agreed on spaghetti with a salad. They were working on the vegetables to add to the store-bought tomato and basil sauce when Sara’s phone rang.  
“It’s my father…” Sara said.  
“Go, go. I’ve got this.”  
“You’re sure?” Michael gave her a knowing look. “Sorry, you’re right. Thanks! I won’t be long.”  
“Take your time!” Sara hadn’t talked to her father since their ski day and Michael knew that she wanted to tell him everything about their trip to Boston. He saw her disappear in the bedroom and resumed his cutting.  
Sara came back 15 minutes later to find Michael carefully stirring the sauce in a large pan. She took a second to appreciate the scene: her very attractive boyfriend cooking in her kitchen. There were worst sights than that one, she mused. Then he turned around because he had sensed her presence and she burst out laughing.  
“Sorry. From the back, I thought you looked like a sexier version of Jamie Oliver but now…” She pointed at the apron he was sporting and continued, giggling: “Now, I’m not so sure!”  
“Come on, Sara. You don’t think I’m sexy with a Wonder Woman apron?!”  
Sara beamed as he gave her a dazzling smile. “I’ll reserve my judgement for when I taste your cooking”, she said. She quickly kissed him on the cheek before asking: “Can I help you with anything?”  
“No, I think I have things under control. Just stirring the sauce from time to time and waiting for the water to boil.”  
“You will not guess what I found under your pillow when I made the bed!”  
Michael’s eyebrows raised instantly. “What?”  
“This!” She took his phone out of her jeans back pocket and handed it to him.  
“Ha! That’s where it was!” Michael turned it on immediately.  
“Checking if you didn’t drunk text anyone yesterday?!”  
Michael laughed but checked his messages nonetheless and eventually let out a sigh of relief. “Nothing to worry about. See?” He showed her his phone.  
“Hey, we took pictures with your phone last night, didn’t we?”  
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right! Let’s see…” He navigated for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened and Sara saw him frown.  
“What is it, Michael?”  
“Oh…” Michael whispered. He scrolled down and repeated, louder that time: “Oh!” He was shocked for a second then he chuckled.  
“Michael…”  
“Well, we now know when we got back… And we have more details about what we did at the party and what we did once we arrived here…”  
He handed her the device and it was Sara’s turn to look stunned! While they both remembered the pictures taken just before midnight, the other ones were not familiar in the least. It was like looking at pictures of strangers showing all the crazy things that they did at a party, except that they were the two strangers. There was a succession of selfies of the two of them, more or less centered, where they were making faces or kissing each other. Sometimes it was Michael kissing Sara on the cheek, other times the reverse. But the photos that left them flabbergasted where the ones taken in Sara’s bedroom (starting at 3:12 am exactly, according to the pictures’ proprieties). They mostly showed Sara as she progressively took one piece of clothing off after the other. Michael didn’t miss one step and seemed to appreciate the private strip tease, if the selfie he took after Sara took her tee-shirt off is any indication (he had his mouth wide open and a look of amazement in his eyes). Then there was one picture (visibly taken by Sara) of Michael lying on the bed, bare chest and with a goofy smile on his face. The final two pictures (taken at 3:22 am) were other selfies of Michael and Sara as they kissed each other on the lips.  
“Wow!” she said, finally recovering. “It’s a good thing you didn’t send any of these pictures to anyone!”  
“Yep.” Michael tried his best but he couldn’t help himself. He started to laugh and once he started, he had a hard time stopping. Sara didn’t find those pictures funny (embarrassing yes, funny no) but Michael’s laugh was contagious and she soon followed him in a fit of giggles. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

When the movie ended, Sara noticed that Michael had fallen asleep next to her. He had his left arm around her and a small smile on his lips. Sara softly touched his chest to wake him up and a second later she saw him jump in his seat and violently bump his right shin, just above the ankle, in the coffee table. He looked completely lost before realizing where he was. He groaned as he touched his lower leg and apologized for his unexpected reaction.  
“Were you dreaming that you were on a hammock again?!” Sara couldn’t resist teasing him, especially after seeing his expression of total surprise when he woke up. Michael silently chuckled. “Oh my god, you were! Was it the same hammock than earlier?”  
“Yeah, it’s the hammock that I have at my house in Costa Rica.”  
“Were you alone?”  
“No, you were still with me.”  
Sara continued her interrogation: “And what were we doing?”  
“Huh…” He avoided her eyes.  
“We were not relaxing like last time?”  
“Huh, no. Not really.”  
“What were we doing then?”  
“We were… making out…”  
“We were making out?! On a hammock?!”  
“Yes and yes.”  
“And how was that working out?”  
“Not so great apparently because I was about to fall off the hammock…”  
“Ha ha ha! Well, it’s not very stable…”  
“Clearly not!”  
“Let me see how bad it is”, Sara asked as she lifted the bottom of his pants. “You’ll live”, she said in a decisive tone a short while later.  
Michael had sparkles in his eyes when he replied: “Thank you, Dr. Tancredi!”  
“Oh no, don’t tell me I’m contributing to your doctor-patient fantasies!”  
Michael’s lips turned into the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face. She shook her head and tried to get up but he forced her back on the couch.  
“How come you never want to play doctor with me, Sara?” he inquired in the most innocent way.  
“Because, contrary to you, I don’t find the idea as… appealing.”  
“Okay, okay.” He pushed her on the length of the couch so that his body was partly over hers and he gently brushed his lips against hers before asking seductively: “What do you find appealing then?”  
Sara held his gaze and answered: “Well, I know that there’s a med school student who wants to return to what she started with a cute engineering student…”  
Sara had barely finish to speak that Michael stood up, prompting her to stand up too. They quickly made their way to the bedroom in between giggles and stolen kisses. Once they reached the bedroom, Sara grew surprisingly serious and authoritatively ordered Michael to take his tee-shirt and socks off.  
“Yes, General Tancredi”, he responded, imitating a military salute.  
“At ease, huh…” she began, unsure. She reflected a second then continued: “At ease, Captain Scofield!”  
Michael smiled and obeyed Sara’s commands. When he was done, he went to reach for Sara and help her undress but she gently slapped his hand away.  
“No. Not yet.”  
“Yes, sir! Anything else I can do, General?”  
“Could you please grab the “magic box” in the night stand?” Sara took her pants off.  
“The “magic box”?!”  
“Well, it may be okay to say “I love you” after two months but it’s definitely waaaaay too early to get pregnant after two months!”  
“I agree! I was merely referring to the nickname that you’ve given to your present.”  
“Ha! You like?” She took her socks off.  
“I love it!” Michael opened the drawer and took the box. He looked inside and threw its content on the cover before returning to the foot of the bed where Sara was still standing. “Do you think that we’re going to finish your gift tonight?”  
Sara turned to look at the bed. “Two? Hum, I don’t know but I hope so…” With that, she rapidly pulled her tee-shirt above her head.  
He swallowed at the sight in front of him. He could feel his heart beat faster suddenly. “Wow, things are moving fast tonight!”  
“Not really, if you consider that they started several hours ago...” Sara closed the distance between them. “A little after three this morning”, she added for confirmation. She put her hands on his chest and let them tantalizingly travel lower. She had a satisfied smile on her lips when she saw his breathing accelerate. “There’s only one thing missing from this morning”, she said. Sara barely heard Michael ask what as his voice wasn’t very loud. She didn’t respond but she unbuttoned his jeans, provoking a gasp to escape from his mouth. She then slowly, extremely slowly, unzipped the jeans and Michael thought that he probably stopped breathing altogether. Not wasting another second, Sara helped him out of his pants and playfully pushed him on the bed. He adjusted himself, leaning back on his elbows, and Sara joined him under his intense gaze. She straddled him in a swift motion and Michael knew that 2017 could not have started better.


	20. January 14th – Birthday and revelations

Anna couldn’t believe that she was now 35 years old! She was the first one of their group of friends to reach that milestone and it hurt. Not physically. No, she felt great physically. But psychologically, she felt like she wasn’t on the rise anymore and that wasn’t a good feeling. The next milestone would be the big 4-0 and that was OLD! Ah well, she tried to philosophize, what can you do? At least she had a beautiful wife, a job that she loved and great friends. She and Sam married shortly after same sex marriage became legal in the country, putting an official stamp on a relationship that had started almost 9 years before. Her position as a professor of Russian Literature was demanding but she enjoyed every minute of it. Correction: she enjoyed every minute that didn’t include pointless administrative duties and boring colleagues. She was part of a quintet of people that have had each other’s backs for the last 10 years. She was friends with Ali first. They went to university together. Then they met Marc who introduced them to Sam. Sara was the last one to join the group, at first an unlikely addition to their queer bunch but eventually an integral member of the “Fantastic Five” as they decided to call themselves over a year ago, when they had too much to drink (not that it was a recurring activity when they were together). If things between Sara and Michael were to become more serious, would they have to change their name, she wondered. Would they become the “Fantastic Six”? The “Magnificent Six” maybe? She had only seen Michael once but she had instantly liked him. The fact that he had minored in Russian Literature was only one reason among many. Most men that Sara had introduced to her friends hadn’t fit right in. But with Michael it was different. He wasn’t a typical straight guy. He was modest and respectful. He didn’t try to impress Sara’s friends on Sam’s birthday. He didn’t feel threatened by their colorful ensemble and their constant teasing. On the contrary, he had a strong sense of humour and appeared to genuinely want to know Sara and her friends better. As a result, his last-minute invitation to the party had been a great addition and their first evening as a group of six had been very enjoyable. But what was more important to Anna was that he seemed to care about Sara and that was all she could hope for her friend. Since that day, Anna had mostly received updates on their developing relationship from Sam who worked with Sara. However, that night, at Ali’s place where they were all gathered to celebrate her birthday, she learned several “interesting” things about the new couple. Maybe if Michael and Sara hadn’t been late, Marc and Ali wouldn’t have had time to tell them what exactly happened on New Year’s Eve… Marc had explained the couple’s costumes and game of seduction as well as the drinking involved. He had repeated some of Michael’s pick-up lines (including the one about specializing in cardiology), which made everyone laugh. He had also showed pictures of the evening, some explicitly revealing how “close” Michael and Sara had been. They were completely oblivious to the outside world and to the fact that people were taking pictures of them. Eyes wide and disbelief in her voice, Sam had been the one to ask the question before Anna could: where exactly was Michael’s right hand on the last picture? Ali had just finished relating how Marc and her had to send Michael and Sara home before they were arrested for public indecency when they finally showed up. Perfect timing, Anna thought. Needless to say, she and the rest of the gang were looking forward to confronting Sara and her boyfriend.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara didn’t know what to expect from Anna’s birthday. The problem wasn’t the event in itself but rather the fact that it would be the first time since New Year’s Eve that they would all be together. And based on what had happened then, she felt unusually nervous at the idea of seeing her friends. First, it seemed unlikely that Marc and Ali hadn’t witnessed any of the probably inappropriate behaviors that Michael and her had displayed on New Year’s Eve. Second, it seemed even more unlikely that they wouldn’t say a word to Sam and Anna who had missed the party because they had gone to California to visit Sam’s family. The fact that they were running late didn’t help at all.  
“What time is it, Michael?”  
Michael checked his watch. “6:16”, he answered.  
“They were waiting for us at 6:00 pm.”  
“We’re only 16 minutes late…”  
“We wouldn’t have been late if we had gone directly from my place.”  
“I couldn’t go out without ironing my shirt, Sara.”  
“You could have worn what you had planned for tomorrow…”  
“I wanted to wear my shirt”, Michael stubbornly replied.  
“You would have been fine with your other clothes”, Sara retorted, just as stubbornly.  
“Probably. But you said you found me attractive with a shirt and tie…”  
“I never said that!”  
“Yes, you did! On New Year’s Eve. Did you change your mind?”  
“Well…” Sara opened Michael’s coat to get a better look at his outfit and gently touched his tie, the one that she had offered him for Christmas and that went with a black shirt that night. “Not really”, she said, locking eyes with him and smiling.  
Michael smiled back and was about to kiss her when Ali suddenly opened the door of her apartment: “Ha! Here you are!”  
They both jumped and pretended that Ali had not interrupted anything. 

 

They gathered around the dining room table, briefly catching up with each other’s holidays, and Sara dared to hope that their antics at Marc’s party wouldn’t be mentioned but she should have known better… It all started with a seemingly innocent comment made by Anna: “Apparently, we missed a great party on New Year’s Eve.”  
“Yes, Sara”, Sam added. “Marc and Ali said that it was very “entertaining”, that you were very entertaining…”  
“Listen, guys”, Sara started, defensive, “I don’t remember everything that happened at the party but I’m sure that what Marc and Ali said is greatly exaggerated.”  
“I don’t think it’s exaggerated to say that you two were a little wild…” Ali interjected.  
“You don’t remember or you purposefully omitted to mention certain details about the party when we talked about it this week at work?”  
They all chuckled, except for Michael and Sara. Sara understood that her friends probably knew more than she would have wanted them to know, thanks to Marc and Ali.  
Ali continued: “Well, we might have lost sight of Michael’s hands on several occasions. You know, they tended to disappear under your top.”  
Sam and Anna started to laugh. Oh god, Sara thought. It was worse than she expected. Michael looked at Sara and bit his lips, trying to suppress a smile. It was bad. He had hoped that their actions had gone relatively unnoticed but realized that it wasn’t the case at all.  
“I wish I could erase some of these images from my brain. I’m not used to seeing straight people making out. It’s rather unsettling.” Ali put her hand on her eyes, pretending to be traumatized.  
“Marc even has visual proofs if you don’t believe us”, Sam said when she regained control of her laughter.  
Marc gave his phone to Sara and she looked at the pictures. She quickly handed the phone to Michael and hid her face in her hands. The pictures unfortunately left little to the imagination. Michael examined them and started laughing because, at that point, what was left to do? “It’s worse than the ones we took ourselves”, he mumbled. His intention had been to only be heard by Sara but obviously, that’s not what happened.  
“What? You have compromising pictures too?!” Marc asked with a hint of mischief in his eyes.  
Michael opened his mouth to say something but Sara beat him to it: “Don’t try, Marc, you will NOT see any of them!”  
Sara didn’t see any escape from her friends’ curiosity so she told them how they had “discovered” the pictures on Michael’s phone and how the photos had shed some light on their night of partying. Sara then hoped that it would mark the end of her friends’ questioning and mocking but she knew better… They were her friends after all.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They were finishing the meal that Ali had prepared and Marc couldn’t resist teasing Sara and Michael again. “You know, we had to separate you at some point… I am sure you were about to have sex in my hallway!”  
Sara was shocked and Michael felt his cheeks redden. It wasn’t bad, it was VERY bad! He chuckled. Sara looked at him with angry eyes. She didn’t find the situation funny. But her reaction only made the other ones laugh some more.  
Marc wasn’t done though. Oh no, he still had a few aces in his sleeves! “Yeah, we didn’t want to witness that! And Sara, thank you for refusing to have sex with Michael in my bathroom by the way!”  
Sara’s jaw dropped, Michael’s eyes went from Marc to Sara, then to Marc again. How did they know that? It was supposed to be a private conversation between Sara and him… Of course, everyone but the couple laughed again.  
“Can you finally admit that the reason why you two were late tonight is because you were having hot sex in your bathroom?!”  
Michael and Sara saw Ali and Marc chuckle, soon joined by Sam and Anna. While Michael found it amusing too, Sara was actually shocked. “Let me clarify some things here”, she said, firmly. “We are late because Michael wanted to iron his shirt but my iron broke down last week so we had to make a detour by his apartment before coming here. Any other assumptions are completely inaccurate.”  
“Come on, Sara, there’s no shame in having an active sex life”, Ali retorted.  
Sam and Anna laughed at the exchange and at Sara’s discomfort. It was funny to see their usually reserved friend being embarrassed and it was even more comical to imagine her saying and doing what Marc and Ali had told them.  
“Ali, stop it!”  
“Sara, I must say, I’ve never seen you so drunk”, Marc added. “And you, Michael, I now know that the serious attitude was all an act: you’re a comedian at heart! A comedian AND a Dom Juan!”  
Sara couldn’t believe how out of character Michael and her had behaved. Clearly, she was more talkative when she was drunk. What else did she say? She didn’t have to wait for too long as she soon heard Marc ask her: “And what exactly is your “magic box”? You kept talking about it. How it was, and I quote, “the gift that kept on giving”. How you needed to bring it to New York. You didn’t make any sense but then again, you were drunk…”  
Sara briefly glanced at Michael and he just shrugged. He was letting her decide what she wanted to disclose or not to her friends. Sara didn’t feel like explaining what the “magic box” was so she deflected: “Anything else that didn’t make any sense?”  
“As a matter of fact”, Marc started, “I was surprised to hear you speak Spanish! Not that it was any good… At some point, you and Michael switched to Spanish. I think it might have something to do with the new bottle of tequila that we opened…”  
Before Sara could even react, Ali said that Michael’s Spanish was far better than Sara’s and that it was funny to listen to him try his pick-up lines in Spanish as well. It was the last drop for Sara: she soon started to laugh uncontrollably. Now she knew that when she was drunk she felt confident enough to speak Spanish! Because there was no way that she would have spoken Spanish otherwise. That evening was getting weirder and weirder. What was next? Would she learn that they had spoken Italian too?! Michael talked about his frequent trips to Costa Rica, hence his fluency in Spanish. He thought that that would be the end of it but Marc wasn’t finished… “And where did you learn Russian and German, Michael? Do you have vacation homes there too?!”  
Michael cleared his throat and laughed nervously before answering. Spanish? It could be justified. Russian AND German? “I took courses during my undergrad studies”, he replied, hoping that they wouldn’t question him more.  
“According to my friend Vasilyi, your Russian is excellent.” He explained that Vasilyi was born in Moscow but moved to Chicago with his parents when he was 4 years old. He was now living in Berlin, working as an artist for Cirque du Soleil. “He also said that your German is better than his.” All eyes were on Michael and he was left speechless for the first time of the evening. “Apparently, you got into a heated argument in Russian about the best brand of vodka! Then you had the same argument about German beer…”  
Michael had no recollection of said discussions. He could feel Sara’s gaze on him. She was understandably curious about Michael’s supposedly proficiency in both Russian and German. How could she not be? Aware of the awkwardness of the moment, Ali stood up and declared that it was time to prepare the cake and candles. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Ali asked Michael to help her clean the table while the others went to relax in the living room. She wasn’t sure how to approach the topic but she knew that she had to. She glanced at the group sitting comfortably on the couch and armchairs and started: “Michael, do you remember that you and I talked at some point on New Year’s Eve?” Seeing Michael’s surprised look, she opted for a different tactic: “You know what I do for a living, right?”  
“You’re a neuroscientist”, he answered, uncertain where the conversation was going.  
“Yes, I am. I study brains. Smart brains in particular. Very smart brains.” Michael glanced at her, not saying a word. “You see, I was interested in knowing how you could speak several languages so well and yet not be a linguistics professor. You don’t seem to remember but I asked you a few questions and you gave me some answers…” She could tell that Michael was nervous. He was staring at her, suspecting what she was about to reveal. “Listen, I’m not a psychologist but I’ve met enough people with a very high I.Q. to know that you’re not the only one who is reluctant to talk about it. But you have nothing to feel embarrassed about. It’s just a part of who you are and maybe I’m overstepping here but I think that you should tell Sara. If you are serious about your relationship with her, and I believe you are, you should tell her.” She could see that Michael was about to object so she continued: “She knows you and her opinion won’t change. Give her more credit than that.” She left Michael to his thoughts and returned to the living room. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sam who had been relatively silent for a large part of the evening decided to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to interrogate Sara. After all, they were colleagues so it concerned her as well. “Sara, just to be sure, are you planning on getting pregnant soon?” Sara’s eyes widened, Michael chocked on his drink and the attention turned once again to the couple. “I don’t have anything against it but I would like to know if you’re going to go on maternity leave in the near future… Before you arrived, Marc said something about you “testing the reproductive system” so I just want to know if it means what I think it means.”  
Sara was the first one to recover. She definitely needed to better control her alcohol consumption because she couldn’t stop chatting when she was drunk! She was in enough trouble already because of what she said and did, she didn’t need to add misunderstanding to the mix. “No, don’t worry, I will not leave you in 9 months. It was just one of Michael’s infamous pick-up lines. He said that we should test the reproductive system but it was simply a disguised attempt to convince me to go and have sex with him…”  
“That’s when you suggested my bathroom for that?!”  
Michael gave Marc an apologetic look. “I was just kidding.”  
“About testing of the reproductive system or about the sex?!” Marc asked, sarcasm evident in his tone.  
Sam didn’t say it out loud but she thought that Michael and Sara would make cute babies if (or when) they decided to. She was Sara’s closest friend and they spent many hours alongside in the E.R. so she had seen first hand how since meeting Michael Sara was on cloud nine. Sam hadn’t failed to notice the tender touches and knowing smiles that the couple had exchanged during her wife’s birthday. Despite all the teasing that they had faced that evening, Michael and Sara had managed to laugh with everyone in the end and they looked so in love that one would have to be completely blind not to see it. Sam had to admit that they seemed perfect for each other and she was sincerely happy for her friend. Finding love was never easy and she hoped that Michael was “the one” for Sara.


	21. January 14th – Taxi ride and more revelations

“So, that went well”, Michael stated.  
Sara chuckled and turned to Michael who was with her in the back seat of a taxi shorty after they had left Ali’s place. “If by “well”, you mean that they didn’t have any videos of the two of us making out, yes, that went well!”  
It was Michael’s turn to chuckle. “We’re even now. First, it was my brother who almost saw us in bed, naked. Now, it’s your friends who witnessed what we would have preferred to do in a more private context… I think that we make a great pair!”  
“Yeah, we do. God, I miss my father’s limo!”  
Michael smiled. “I know. I’m not a big opera fan either…” he declared.  
The music that was playing was quite somber and, combined with the male singer’s deep voice, it created an odd ambiance in the vehicle. But that wasn’t the main reason behind Sara’s comments. She slightly moved closer to Michael and whispered in his ear: “I wasn’t only referring to the taxi driver’s musical selection, Michael…” To dispel any doubt, Sara let her hand travel on Michael’s leg, starting above his knee and moving up until… Until she felt his fingers stop her. She retreated just enough to better observe her boyfriend. She smirked as she saw him swallow and briefly glance at her, sending her a warning look. “What?” Sara innocently asked.  
Michael didn’t answer and gently took her hand to put it on her lap. But Sara was in a playful mood so her hand quickly found its way back to Michael, that time toying first with his tie and then slowly going down until… Well, until Michael once again stopped her. If it was a game, Sara was the current MVP and Michael was clearly losing… He closed his eyes and exhaled.  
“What is it, Michael?” Sara inquired quietly. “Are you finding it hard to resist me right now?” Sara was playing with him, physically and verbally teasing him with evident pleasure.  
Determined not to let her win that easily, Michael decided to counter-attack. Instead of simply removing her hand, he let his own hand sneak inside her coat and then in between two buttons of her blouse. He felt goosebumps instantly form on her skin when he touched her below the navel. He enjoyed the shift in momentum: “Are you okay, Sara? You’re surprisingly silent all of a sudden…” The only noise that he could hear coming from her was her irregular breathing. She avoided his gaze in an effort to regain control of the situation but he took advantage of the fact that the taxi driver couldn’t see them well because of the dim lighting in the car to start unbuttoning her shirt. Sara was feeling her resolve falter more quickly than Michael was progressing and it’s only when the taxi driver talked that she realized they were parked in front of her building. She paid for the ride with a sigh of relief and exited the car, Michael rapidly following behind.

 

Considering their haste, the elevator ride would have been long enough for them to completely undress each other. However, Sara was distracted by Michael’s kisses, first on her lips, then on her jaw and neck, and, as result, she struggled with his tie, which left them to tumble inside her apartment with their coats barely hanging on their shoulders and their shirts completely undone but the rest fortunately still in place. They discarded their clothes on their way to the bedroom and fell on the bed, laughing. Michael leaned in and his face was inches away from hers when he halted. “God, I really love to hear you laugh”, he said, not breaking eye contact.  
On the receiving end of Michael’s hypnotizing gaze, soft smile and loving words, Sara felt her heart tighten in her chest. She closed the distance between them and kissed him with an intensity that probably mirrored the one that had been captured by Marc’s camera phone for New Year’s Eve. At that moment, the mocking that they had faced during the evening was forgotten and what was left was the memories of that wild night, which only served to amplify the current sexual tension between them. While his lips and tongue were playing with Sara’s, Michael let his hands caress her body with a wonderful balance of pace and gentleness that only he could master. Sara’s soft moans were soon joined by Michael’s louder ones when she reached between their bodies and grabbed him. Her hand started to stroke him in a slow but steady rhythm and he had to stop her before losing it prematurely. Pinning her two hands over her head, he captured her lips in another passionate kiss that prevented her from realizing that only one of his hands was eventually holding her hands as his other hand had found its way to her wet folds. Sara gasped at the sensation and arched her back under the force of the pleasure that Michael was giving her with each movement of his fingers. His name escaped her swollen lips in a pleading tone and Michael finally entered her, sending them closer to the edge and another mind-blowing orgasm. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael felt Sara’s wet hair on his shoulder and her lips on his cheek. He smiled, eyes closed. He wasn’t ready to fully wake up yet. He was comfortably lying on his stomach with his hands on each side of his head and he could perceive the heat emanating from Sara’s body. Sara kissed him again and whispered his name. He groaned softly, a grin plastered on his face. Sara tried to turn him around but he didn’t want to cooperate. They had all the time in the world. Why couldn’t she join him instead?  
She tickled his cheek affectionately. “Michael, you promised that you were going to cook for me”, she said quietly.  
“There’s no rush, Sara”, he started, refusing to open his eyes. “It’s still early”, he added, noticing the bright light under his eyelids.  
“Michael, I’m hungry and you promised me French toast!”  
“I’m not making French toast for supper”, he mumbled. French toast? French toast?! Why would they have French toast for supper? Unless…  
Sara’s loud laugh finished to wake him up and he realized, as he finally (and reluctantly) opened his eyes, that he was not where he thought he was. Sara smiled and gave him an amused look. “Were you dreaming again?”  
He didn’t need to say anything for her to know the answer. His temporary confusion had been visible on his face before it was replaced by a small grin. He briefly closed his eyes and chuckled. He turned around and took Sara in his arms. “Damn, Sara. We were on the beach in Costa Rica and…”  
“Let me guess: I was trying to wake you up to prepare supper?”  
“Yeah”, he answered, delighted yet intrigued that he didn’t have to explain everything.  
“Do you know that you talk in your sleep? I thought you were awake but when you mentioned supper I knew that something was off!”  
Michael chuckled again and taking in her appearance he added in a teasing tone: “If I had opened my eyes sooner I would have realized that you were not adequately dressed for the beach…”  
“Were you dreaming of me in a bikini?!”  
“Guilty”, he apologized but his eyes and smile indicated that he wasn’t sorry at all.  
“What color?”  
“Black”, he answered without skipping a beat.  
Sara’s surprise told him that she indeed possessed a black swimsuit but before Michael could think of another witty comment, she asked: “What about you? What were you wearing?”  
“Huh, black and white board shorts. Why?”  
“Oh, you know, to fuel my imagination…” She winked at him and grabbed his hand to pull him off the bed.  
Later that morning, Michael asked Sara if she would be interested in joining him for his annual trip to Costa Rica. His boss had asked him and his colleagues to start thinking about their vacation dates and Michael’s plans now included Sara. He hoped that she would say yes. Sara’s inner voice was screaming to accept Michael’s invitation but she decided to take the time to think about it. July was several months away, she reasoned, and she wanted to be sure of where her relationship was going, even if she felt that it was going in the right direction.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael was happy to spend most of his weekends with Sara, doing nothing special, like chatting, cooking or going for a walk if the weather permitted it. His favorite part though was being able to kiss her whenever he wanted and he never hesitated to drag her back to bed, regardless of the time of day if he felt like it. Sara usually opposed little resistance as she enjoyed those intimate moments with her boyfriend, whether they ended up making love or simply cuddled (cuddling often changed into hot make out sessions but obviously, nobody ever complained!). On that particular Sunday, she was reveling in the lazy atmosphere of a cold Winter day, lying on her bed, on top of the blankets. While Sara was on her back, Michael was on his right side, his head resting in the crook of her neck, his left hand playing with the fingers of her right hand. Michael had given some thought to Ali’s suggestion to open up to Sara and he was considering how to approach the topic when Sara spoke.  
“Anna seemed to like your birthday gift”, she said referring to the book Michael had picked for her. He had found an old Russian edition of Anna Karenina in a Russian store located in Ukrainian Village. Everyone including Sara had been impressed by how thoughtful and personalized the present was.  
“Yeah, about that…” he started, suddenly unsure how to pursue the discussion.  
“What about it?”  
Michael stopped playing with Sara’s fingers for a second and cleared his throat before lifting himself up on his elbow. “I need to tell you something.”  
“Okay…”  
“You know that I speak Russian and German.”  
“Yes…” Sara’s curiosity had been piqued when Marc had mentioned it the day before but then the conversation had moved to another subject and Sara had been too “distracted” to question Michael later on when they had left Ali’s place.  
“I happen to know other languages too.”  
Sara was still revisiting their previous night, how instead of talking about Russian or German, she had opted to focus on the universal language of love… His latest words brought her back to the present. “What do you mean by you “know” other languages? Can you fluently speak other languages as well?”  
“Some, yes. Others, I can only read.”  
“Which ones?!” If Sara’s curiosity had been piqued previously, she was now extremely intrigued.  
“Well, I can speak Italian and French and read Old Greek, Latin and Japanese.”  
“What? How? When did you learn them? It’s not like it’s your job.”  
Michael chuckled. “It’s exactly what Ali told me when we talked about it. We apparently had a very long chat on New Year’s Eve.”  
“So many things happened on New Year’s Eve without us recalling anything... But how? How do you know all these languages? You didn’t take a course for each in university, did you?”  
“No, I didn’t.”  
“And how did you manage to learn Russian and German with only one university course anyway?!”  
“That’s what I want to tell you… I learned the basics in Russian and German in those courses and the rest almost took care of itself. I don’t know how to explain it but languages come easily to me. I studied Old Greek and Latin on my own when I was in high school. After that, Italian was quite simple, same for French, even though French can be complicated at times.” Sara was just staring at Michael, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “Japanese, I spent a Summer studying it, the Summer after I finished high school.”  
Sara’s gaze never left Michael. She was a physician and she needed a scientific explanation as to how it was possible. She studied French in high school and gladly joined her father on a business trip to Quebec City ten years ago, her only excursion in a Francophone environment so far. Her level in French was quite good but other than that, she took one Spanish class in university and, while she could get by, she wasn’t fluent by any means. How did Michael do then? “Are you some kind of genius?” she finally asked. Because, it was the only thing that would make sense.  
Michael’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second following Sara’s question. He opened his mouth, then chuckled nervously. He never liked the word. He had heard it several times since his childhood and it always made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Yes, he could do things most people couldn’t but he never considered himself a genius. He opened his mouth again and hoped that his supposedly genius mind would find the right words. “I don’t think I’m a genius. Leonardo Da Vinci was a genius. Mozart was another one. Einstein too. I’m nothing like them. I’m just… I’m just me.” He shrugged. It was simpler to tell what he could do than to explain how he could do all that.  
“But you are able to learn languages more easily than I was able to learn Medicine.” Michael didn’t reply anything, he simply gave her an embarrassed smile. “Is it the same reason why you built the furniture for your niece’s bedroom without instructions and in record time? And why you’re so good at chess?”  
“Yes, probably”, he admitted. “Look, I don’t know why I’m like this. I guess I was born this way. I could read at two. Apparently, I taught myself. Foreign languages, well, they’re just a fun challenge. Like cracking a secret code or something.”  
Sara took a second to absorb what Michael had just said. “Wow”, she mumbled eventually. Then, she glanced up at him. She had so many questions for him but she settled for the one that presently seemed the most important: “Why did you wait all this time to tell me?”  
“Ali convinced me that I needed to”, he said, locking eyes with her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t sure how to and I…”  
“And you were afraid it would change the way I look at you?”  
Michael shrugged again and winced. “I never talk about it. I’m not used to. Then I met you and I liked you and I wanted you to like me back. The truth is I wanted to tell you but the subject never really came up. At least, not until New Year’s Eve and yesterday…”  
“Michael, I know it’s not the same but I don’t like to tell people who my father is when they meet me for the first time. I’m afraid it will alter how they perceive me as an individual. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m the Governor’s daughter. I’ve come to accept it and I just hope that people see me for me and not for him, just like I see you for you and not for your ability to speak way too many languages.” She gave him a sweet smile and saw his shoulders relax. Willing to lighten the mood a bit, Sara opted for a less difficult question: “Did Ali try to recruit you for one of her studies?”  
Michael smiled. “No, she did not.”  
“But you could participate, right?”  
“Yes.”  
Sara knew what Ali’s research interests were and Michael’s answer only confirmed her suspicions. “Did you really think that I would look at you differently?”  
“You wouldn’t have been the first one… I’m sorry, Sara. I really am. I guess old habits die hard…”  
“Michael, I honestly don’t think that I fell in love with you because you have an I.Q. that is highly above average. Yes, I fell in love with you because you’re smart but not in the I.Q. testing sense of the term. Smart in the sense that we can have meaningful conversations about things other than sports or your career. Smart in the sense that you can throw witty comments back at me as fast as I can throw witty comments at you. So yes, I fell in love with you because you’re smart but I also fell in love with you because you’re funny and caring and don’t take yourself too seriously. Obviously, I also fell in love with you because I find you good-looking and very attractive.”  
Michael’s lips curled up as soon as Sara finished her monologue. He felt relieved that Sara finally knew his “secret” and didn’t seem too affected by it. But most of all, he felt ecstatic that she was in love with him, just like he was in love with her. Her words only reinforced the fact. “You find me good-looking and very attractive?”  
“What can I say? I’m superficial that way…” Sara lifted her head and closed the distance between them, brushing her lips on his in a flirtatious way. Michael immediately responded by pulling her on top of him and deepening the kiss but Sara eventually put an end to it. She had suddenly remembered one question. “So, if you can read Japanese, you know what Ali’s tattoo on her arm means, right?”  
“Yes, it means love”, he answered before kissing her again. “Do you have any other questions for me?”  
Sara giggled. “Yes! Old Greek? What did you read in Old Greek?!”  
“Ha! Homer’s Odyssey: a classic! Anything else?”  
“No, not for now. Can I add something though?” Michael nodded. “First, I learned French in high school so if we get drunk again, maybe we can speak French then?” Michael smiled and answered by giving her another peck on the lips. “Second, I don’t think your high I.Q. helped you much with your first pick-up line. You know, when we met at Starbucks…”  
Michael scoffed. He didn’t want things to change between Sara and him and his wish was granted: Sara was still very happy to tease him whenever she had the chance! “I would like to remind you that I talked to you first”, he retorted after a short while.  
“True but I invited you to a movie AND I invited you in my apartment where, I hope you remember, we kissed for the first time, then made love for the first time.”  
“Okay, okay. In my defense, I wanted to kiss you when you accompanied me to my apartment and took care of my injured hand.”  
“Why didn’t you?” Sara challenged him.  
“I thought that it wasn’t an appropriate time with you working on my hand…”  
“I see… Was it the start of your doctor-patient fantasies then?”  
“He he! Maybe… I’m glad you invited me in after the gala though.”  
“I can’t believe you wanted to talk literature at first…”  
“Well, who said we wouldn’t have had fun talking about books too?” Sara noticed Michael’s serious expression and with a smile and a subtle raise of an eyebrow she silently urged him to go on. “You know, books are a lot like people”, he started. “Sometimes a beautiful cover is just that: a beautiful cover. And you’re very disappointed when you read the book. However, other times…” In a swift movement, he turned them around so that Sara was on her back again and he was partly on top of her. “Other times”, he repeated, “what you find inside is as beautiful as the cover outside.” He opened a button of Sara’s flannel shirt, the first one that Sara had buttoned that morning (actually the third one from the top). Michael could now see a fraction of her off white bra and he left a soft kiss between her breasts. He looked up at Sara before continuing: “What I like about books is that you never know what’s going to happen. You just know that you’re going to embark on an adventure that’s going to last for a few hours (or more). And it all starts by opening a book.” Michael focused on Sara’s shirt again and on the buttons that were preventing him from having an almost full view of Sara’s upper body. When the shirt was completely open, he added seductively: “That’s the exciting part of opening a new book: you never know what its pages are going to reveal.” He let his fingers lightly touch the top of her breasts then move down to her stomach. He smirked when he noticed how Sara swallowed and how her lips slightly parted, her breathing becoming more irregular. He resumed in a quiet voice: “You might be hooked after the first page or it may take you longer to fall in love.” He locked eyes with Sara and leaned in to crash his lips on hers in a short but intense kiss. “And, if you’re very lucky, you’ll find a book that’s going to change your life forever. That’s going to rock your world and make you a better person. When you’re lucky enough to find that, you know that you should hold on to it because it might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”  
That time, it was Sara who captured Michael’s lips in a passionate kiss. She might be mistaken but it sure sounded like the most beautiful declaration of love she had ever heard. As they continued kissing, she lifted herself up and found the hemline of his tee-shirt, then she helped him out of it in a quick motion, only breaking the kiss for an instant. In return, Michael blindly finished to take Sara’s shirt off and brought them back to their initial horizontal position on the bed. From now on, Sara would never look at a new book without blushing…


	22. Valentine’s Day

It was Valentine’s Day and Michael would, once again, spend it single. Well, he wasn’t exactly single but how do you call it when your girlfriend of three months dumps you on Valentine’s Day? Okay, Sara didn’t actually “dump” him but, as she had explained him in great details, she doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. She hadn’t celebrated since she was 16 and she wasn’t going to change in 2017, even if she was in a relationship. It was a matter of principles. Her main arguments were based on the ugly mercantile take-over of the event and on the pressure to declare, with grand gestures, your love for one person on that specific day. Michael had listened to her arguments carefully and might have called her “cynical” at some point but she didn’t bulge. She had closed the discussion by stating that she was working from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on February 14 so she “couldn’t” celebrate anyway. It’s not that he disagreed with her opinion on Valentine’s Day. No, he understood where Sara was coming from. But the thing is that he was madly in love with her and that he was looking forward to celebrating the day in her company. But no, he would be single on Valentine’s Day… His friend Sucre was taking his wife to a fancy restaurant, a rare night out for the young parents. His nephew had a date with his friend Maria from school. Even his brother, Lincoln “I don’t do romantic” Burrows, had organized a special evening at home for Sofia! He had said that it would be one of the last chances to do something as a couple before the birth of their baby who was due in a month. So Lincoln had outdone himself and planned everything. And he, Michael Scofield, wouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day because his girlfriend, the beautiful, smart and funny Sara Tancredi, had decided against it. She had specifically insisted: NO flower delivery for her during her shift at the hospital. Under any circumstances. She had been adamant about it.  
The problem was that Michael was a hopeless romantic. He was also creative and very persistent. He wasn’t going to spend a crazy amount of money for Sara (another no-no). He wasn’t going to do something extravagant to show her that he loved her. But there was no way he would skip the holiday altogether. Because, Michael believed that some rules are meant to be broken if you have a good reason for it. And what better reason than love? As a result, here he was, on his lunch hour, entering Northwestern Memorial Hospital and ready to complete phase one of his surprise mission which he had aptly named “Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day”. He walked for approximatively five minutes in busy hallways before finally finding the emergency department. He scanned the large room but Sara was nowhere in sight so he decided to walk to the reception.   
“Can I help you, Sir?” a thirty-something black female nurse inquired.   
“Hum, yes. I’m looking for Doctor Tancredi, please”, he replied nervously.  
“She’s busy at the moment”, the nurse retorted as she briefly observed Michael who was awkwardly standing in front of her. She glanced back at her charts on the desk and ordered another nurse to go and check on a patient. Michael’s gaze continued to roam the place in the hope of spotting Sara. The nurse, Katie, according to her name tag, addressed him again: “Do you need help with anything?” She thought that he didn’t seem ill or in need of care with his nice coat, suit and tie. However, her years of experience as a nurse told her to reserve her judgement.  
“Actually, I came to see Doctor Tancredi. I have something for her.” Michael opened his messenger bag and produced a small grey cardboard box with a red bow on top of it.  
“Are you a former patient?”, Katie asked. Upon further examination, she determined that he looked inoffensive but you’re never too careful. Former patients often offered presents to their physicians to thank them for the care that they received while hospitalized. However, the action was rather unusual in the emergency department.   
“Hum, no, I’m not.” Michael’s discomfort increased. This was not how he had envisioned the whole thing. He didn’t want to put Sara on the spot so he opted against saying he was her boyfriend. “Do you know if she’s going to have a minute soon? I was really hoping to give her this in person.” He indicated the box in his hand.   
Katie smiled for the first time and was about to reply when an older nurse arrived at the reception, searching for something on the desk. “Elizabeth, do you know if Doctor Tancredi is still in exam room two?”  
“No, she went to help Doctor Matthews in one. They needed more hands for his trauma victim. Why?”  
“Well, this gentleman is here for her”, Katie responded, pointing at Michael at the same time.   
Elizabeth’s eyes turned to Michael and she didn’t hide an appreciative smile when she checked him out. “You want to see Doctor Tancredi? Sorry but it might be a while before she’s done.”   
Michael was barely able to articulate a quiet “oh” while probably blushing like a teenager under the newcomer’s scrutinizing gaze. His plan was a miserable failure so far. He took his phone from his inside coat pocket and exhaled. “I have to go but could you, please, make sure that this gets to her?”  
He thanked the two nurses, turned on his heels and exited the E.R., feeling a little dejected. He quickly sent Sara a text message and hurried back to work.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Forty-five minutes later, things calmed down a bit at work and Sara was finally able to breathe. They had almost lost the trauma victim but thanks to excellent team work they had been able to save him. She made her way to the reception with the intention to inform Katie, the nurse in charge, that she would take a short break but Katie talked to her first. “Sara, a man left something for you earlier.” Katie retrieved Michael’s present in one of the desk drawers and handed it to her.   
“Did he leave his name?” Sara had her suspicions but she needed to be sure.  
“No but he seemed really disappointed that you were busy.” Katie looked at her expectantly.  
Sara quickly checked her phone and found a text from Michael. It read: “I was in the neighborhood. Made a little something for you. Hope you like it!”   
When she finished reading the message, Sara’s face broke into a small smile that didn’t escape the nurse’s observational skills. “So who’s your secret admirer, Sara?” she asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.  
Sara chuckled. “That would be my boyfriend”, she answered, realizing that, besides Sam, none of her colleagues knew that she was in a relationship. The cat was out of the bag now!  
“Boyfriend, huh? Don’t take it the wrong way but he is cute”, Katie added enthusiastically, emphasizing the word “cute” more than necessary.   
Sara chuckled again. She totally agreed with the nurse. She thanked Katie and disappeared before she could ask any additional questions. She went to the cafeteria, ordered a smoothie as well as a muffin and let herself fall down on a chair by one of the large windows. She took a sip of her drink and a bite of her snack before looking at the little box. She should have known that Michael wouldn’t completely respect her wishes not to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In all honesty, she was secretly pleased that he hadn’t. Who doesn’t like to feel loved after all? She wiped her hands with a napkin and opened the present. Inside the little box, she found a beautiful origami flower. A rose to be exact. She examined the flower in her hand thoroughly and her lips curled up in a small smile. Michael… She regretted having missed him earlier. She opened her phone again and typed: “Got your present. I love it!! Thanks!” She finished her message with a red heart emoji and pressed “send”.  
In another part of town a few seconds later, Michael who was in a meeting with four colleagues felt his phone vibrate in his pants pocket. He waited to be alone to check his message and smiled to himself when he read it. He quickly replied with a look of satisfaction on his face. Phase one of “Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day” was now completed. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Shortly before 6:00 pm, Sara received a message from Michael: “You’ll be happy to know that I won’t drown my sorrow in alcohol because you refused to celebrate Valentine’s Day with me: I have a date tonight!”  
Sara didn’t think that she was a jealous woman. However, Michael’s words suddenly caused her to frown and feel all kinds of negative emotions. She believed that he was okay with her decision and understood that she had to work. Sara would be the doctor in charge of the E.R. for the evening. Sam had finished her shift at 5:00 pm and quickly exited the hospital to join Anna in an Italian restaurant that they both wanted to try. Sara was enjoying a five-minute break after a long succession of various injuries when she had received Michael’s message and her mood was about to shift dramatically when another message arrived on her phone: “She’s one year old and already has four teeth!” Sara sighed in relief and shook her head, smiling. Damn you, Michael Scofield, she thought. “Your friend Sucre’s daughter?”  
“Yep! Sitter cancelled at the last minute.”  
“I wish you lots of soiled diapers”, she replied cheekily. Then a few seconds later she sent another message: “Sorry. Meant to say enjoy your date!”  
At the end of her shift, while on her way home, Sara texted Michael. She was curious to see how he had survived his night with a baby. “How was your date Dom Juan?  
Sara didn’t have to wait long for Michael to reply back: “I don’t think she likes me very much… First she threw food at me during supper. Think my shirt is ruined (I hate carrots!). Then she fell asleep while I was talking to her!”  
Sara chuckled in the mostly empty bus. “Ha ha ha! Clearly you need to be older to appreciate the Scofield charm!!!!”  
“Ha ha. Very funny.”  
Sara closed her phone and wished she had been there to see Michael take care of a baby. She was sure he was good with kids. A sudden yawn interrupted her thoughts. She was exhausted and desperately needed to sleep.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

On Friday February 17th, Michael was getting ready for phase two of “Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day”. Since Sara had also vetoed going out to a restaurant or him cooking a fancy meal, he had to be creative and he was quite pleased with himself. He humbly thought that he had devised the perfect non-romantic evening. He stopped on his way from work to buy everything that he needed and worked on the preparation of their supper as soon as he got home. He then took a shower and chose the best clothes he could think of that wouldn’t say “I’m going on a date”: a very old pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees (no belt because that would indicate that he had put some effort into his outfit and he had definitively not!) and an even older tee-shirt whose original color might have been black but which presently appeared greyish. He hadn’t shaved since Tuesday morning in an attempt to add to his rugged look, not that he was as bad as his brother would be if he hadn’t shaved for three days. Sara arrived shortly after 8:00 pm.  
When Michael opened the door of his apartment Sara immediately noticed his unusual style and frowned before crooking her head to the side in silent questioning.   
“You didn’t want me to do anything special so this is me doing nothing special and making sure that you don’t misinterpret our evening for a romantic date.”  
Sara smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips as she entered the apartment. She was relieved to see that there were no candles on the dining room table. In fact, the table wasn’t even set! That surprised her for the second time in less than two minutes that evening. Michael led her to the living room and invited her to sit down on the couch. Her eyes followed him as he retreated to the kitchen. She admired the view for as long as she could and appreciated how the jeans hung low on his hips, slightly revealing the waistband of his boxers. She licked her lips as her gaze move an inch lower. She thought that his jeans fitted perfectly in all the right places and she had to focus extra hard not to follow and jump him in the kitchen. Yes, his jeans are going to be very distracting, she thought. Sara was still a little flustered when Michael came back with two bottles of beer, offering one to her. Unaware of her inner struggle, Michael innocently declared: “You said no fancy meal. It made me think about what wouldn’t constitute a fancy meal and I came to the conclusion that pizza (and beer) would probably fit the bill.”  
“So we’re having pizza to go with the beer?”  
“Yes, we are!”  
“Microbrewery, huh?”  
“Well, it’s not because we drink beer that we should drink cheap beer”, he answered with a proud smirk.  
Sara answered his smirk by raising an eyebrow, suddenly wondering what Michael had in store for her. “I assume that we’re not eating any kind of pizza either”, she said after taking a sip of her drink.  
“You assume right. Again, the dish in itself might be ordinary but it doesn’t mean we should settle for the store-bought version or rely on delivery. So yes, I made it from scratch.”  
Sara smiled and raised her bottle in Michael’s direction for a cheer: “To pizza and beer then!”  
“To Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day”, Michael replied with mischief in his eyes.  
“So this is what it is then… “Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day”?”  
“Yep!”  
“What’s on the program besides the food?”  
“That’s the thing…” Michael exhaled loudly. “I would have normally suggested watching sports because nothing says platonic like sports but I don’t have a tv so we can’t watch basketball or hockey or whatever sport is on tonight. As a result, I opted for the next best thing which is a very non-romantic movie…” He opened his computer that was on the coffee table in front of them and launched the Netflix application. Sara soon saw his choice, Jaws 2, and couldn’t help but giggled. “And before you say anything, let me remind you that you explicitly told me it wasn’t a date when we went to see Jaws at the movie theatre.”  
Playing along with him, Sara answered: “You’re right. It was just an occasion for you to get over your fears. Alright, Michael, where’s my pizza? I’m starving!”  
“Hey, I will not serve you. It’s not a date.” Michael’s response sounded so sincere that Sara was fooled for a second but then he smiled at her and got up to take the pizza out of the oven and bring it back to the living room. Michael put two slices on Sara’s plate as well as on his and started the movie. “How do you want to play this? Since it’s not a date, I can’t ask you to kiss me every time we see a shark or they pronounce the word “shark”. Do you think we should high-five then? Fist-bump maybe? That would be platonic enough, don’t you think? Or we could simply drink every time.” Michael gave her an expectant look and, for only answer, Sara turned her head and stared at the screen, her lips curling up slightly.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

They had eaten their pizza and finished their beer. The movie was half-way done and, like usual, Michael’s focus was more on the woman beside him than on the thriller movie. He kept stealing furtive glances at her and thought he was quite subtle when Sara turned to him and looked at him. “Aren’t you going to pause the movie?”  
“Huh?”  
“I assume you have something planned for dessert as well?”  
Michael shook his head and bit his tongue. How could she know? Hum, he would have to get better at surprising her… He remained silent for a few seconds before admitting with a small smile on his lips: “Yes, I do but it’s not special at all.”  
Sara smiled back at him and followed him to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, turning his back to her in the process. He looked at her over his shoulder and asked if she wanted another beer but she was too busy checking him out to listen to him. His butt looked so good in those jeans! He repeated the question and turned around to face her. He swallowed with difficulty and his lips parted slightly when he realized how close she was and saw the intensity in her eyes. Without saying a word, she took the bottles from his hands and set them on the counter behind her before crashing her lips on his. Her hands quickly travelled up his chest where they grabbed his tee-shirt in an almost desperate attempt to hold him close. Michael opened his mouth slightly and deepened the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her. It was their first intimate moment in a week, except for the chaste kiss they had exchanged when Sara had arrived. As a result, they shared another “heated moment” in his kitchen. That time no one stopped them, no phone call interrupted them. Only a mutual agreement not to succumb too early to their desire put a halt to their making out. 

 

They untangled themselves as if nothing had happened and they were not about to rip each other’s clothes off.   
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t me thanking you for a great date tonight”, Sara finally said when her breathing returned to a more normal rhythm.   
Michael grinned. “Good. Because it’s not a date. I think I’ve made that abundantly clear.”  
“Oh yes, absolutely”, she answered, mirroring his grin.  
Michael handed her a bottle of beer while he grabbed a small paper bag from Starbucks and two plates in one of the cupboards. She looked at him with curiosity and smiled when he pulled two muffins out of the bag and put them on their respective plate. One blueberry muffin for her and one with chocolate chips for him: the exact same flavors they had chosen when they first met. She took a bite of her muffin and pretended to moan in pleasure. Michael chuckled behind her as they walked back to the living room. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The ending credits were rolling when Michael saw from the corner of his eye Sara get up. He didn’t have time to ask her where she was going that she moved in front of him and straddled him in a swift motion. His eyes widened in the process and his heart skipped a beat. She cupped his face with her hands and leaned in to press her lips against his. Michael tried to deepen the kiss but she moved back just enough to be able to look at him. “Just to confirm, this is not me thanking you for the beautiful origami flower either.”  
“Of course not”, Michael mumbled. That time it was him who closed the distance between them. Their lips reconnected and the intensity of the kiss increased exponentially in the following minutes when their hands entered the dance too. Michael’s fingers eventually sneaked under Sara’s top making her shiver under his touch as they travelled in the direction of her breasts. Before they could reach their destination, Sara broke the kiss to help him remove his tee-shirt. She wanted to feel his skin under her fingertips. She needed to feel his skin under her fingertips. She let her hands touch his chest sensually and she heard him moan quietly which turned her on even more. She moved one hand to the back of his neck to make sure he wouldn’t move (not that he had any intention to) and fidgeted with his jeans pocket with the other one, hoping that she would find what she was looking for. At the same time, Michael brushed his palms on her breasts and felt her nipples harden under her bra. Sara could now probably feel his erection through his jeans and he briefly thought how phase two of “Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day” was going great so far (actually, he also wished that Sara would change her mind about the whole non-celebration thing) when she triumphantly raised the little foil wrapper that she had just found in his pocket (platonic, my ass, she said to herself). She promptly got up, bringing him with her. They continued kissing until Sara broke the kiss once again, considering their options. For a change, Michael wasn’t the one to think fast as Sara grabbed the throw that was neatly folded at the extremity of the couch and unfolded it on the carpet next to them. She quickly took her shirt off under Michael’s burning gaze and crashed her lips against his probably before her shirt even touched the floor. Michael couldn’t keep up with Sara as her hands expertly unbuttoned his jeans (the same jeans that had driven her crazy all night) and lowered them down, taking his socks off when she reached his ankles. She got up right away, gently pushed him to lie on the blanket and worked on her remaining clothes. His gaze never left her and she smirked as she noticed his now very visible erection through his underwear. Sara was in charge and he LOVED it. She kneeled beside him and moved her hands to the waistband of his boxers tugging on them and helping him out of them. She then grabbed the condom on the couch and straddled him for the second time that evening, but they were now both completely naked. Michael swallowed with difficulty and kept staring at her. He was trying (and hardly succeeding, he thought) to control himself. Sara giggled as she struggled to open the condom and once she had managed, she slowly rolled the rubber on him, forcing him to hold his breath and to close his eyes in an attempt to regain a little bit of composure. That’s why he was taken off guard when she lowered herself on him and he moaned in pleasure at the sensation. He lifted himself up and captured her lips in a passionate kiss to prevent himself from screaming her name loudly. She responded to his kiss with an urgency that matched his desire and they soon started to move in sync, not even aware, or caring, that it would be the first time they would make love elsewhere than in a bedroom.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara woke up first, snuggled into Michael’s arms. She sighed with content and lifted her head just enough so that she could see the clock on the night stand. They still had a little time before having to get up. She put her head back on Michael’s chest as she recalled the events of the evening and smiled. She thought about the efforts he had put into making sure that they didn’t skip Valentine’s Day like she had initially intended to. If she hadn’t been in love with Michael before, she would certainly be by now.   
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty”, Sara said in a sweet voice just after having given him a soft kiss on the lips. She saw him smile first, then he briefly opened his eyes. “Sorry to wake you up but we have to get up soon.”  
“No, I want to stay in bed with you”, Michael mumbled, tightening his arms around her. Sara found that he sounded like a five-year old child stubbornly demanding candy for supper while he knew very well that it wasn’t an option. A child? Why would she think that he sounded like a child and that he sounded adorable? Pushing the interrogation aside, she returned to their current conversation and offered him a clearer explanation: “We’re having lunch with my father for his birthday. Remember?”  
“Yes, yes, sorry, I had momentarily forgotten… It’s too early to have a sharp memory.” Then he joked: “Planning and executing “Operation Anti-Valentine’s Day” was exhausting!” He could have taken the opportunity to tell her the real reason why he was tired (that he never slept well when they were not together) but he was afraid to sound like a needy boyfriend.  
“Hey, I’m not the one who insisted on celebrating in the first place!”  
“I never heard you complain”, he replied back.  
“True. About that… Thank you for the origami flower and for last night… That was very sweet of you. Nicely done, by the way, the origami flower. How you didn’t exactly bend the rules, yet you completely played with them.”  
Michael propped himself up on one elbow and locked eyes with her. “I’m not sure I’m following you. You didn’t want any flowers and I totally respected that. I merely offered you a little piece of paper.”   
Sara had to kiss him then, just to make his smug smile disappear. Okay, maybe also because a sleepy Michael was a sight that she was still getting used to and that she liked a lot. “Is it you finally changing your mind about Valentine’s Day?”, he asked, hopeful.  
“I will concede that it was the best Valentine’s Day celebrations I can remember.”  
“Considering you haven’t celebrated in almost 15 years, I’m not sure what this compares to”, he replied. “Regardless, next year is on you”, he added without hesitation.   
“Next year?” she scoffed. “A lot of things can happen in a year, Michael. Not that I don’t trust us, or our relationship, but we’ve only been dating for a few months.”  
“Just have a little faith”, he answered and softly kissed her on the lips. The kiss was his way of telling her to stop arguing with him. For him, it was also a promise. A promise of a future together. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael yawned for what felt like the hundredth time in the limo. The divider was up but he felt too tired to even think of taking advantage of it. He let his head gently fall on Sara’s shoulder as he mumbled: “Why couldn’t your father invite us for supper? We would be so much better in bed right now.”  
“Stop whining, Michael.” Michael lifted his head to get a better look at her and he smiled before kissing her cheek and whispering a tender “I love you” in her ear. He returned to his original position on her shoulder as if what he had just said was a normal occurrence between the two of them but it wasn’t. Not yet. Sara shook her head and said: “I just reprimanded you and you tell me you love me?!”  
For only response, Michael hummed and put his right hand on her thigh, squeezing it softly. Sara took his hand in hers and brushed her lips against his knuckles before setting his hand back on her lap. “I love you too”, he heard her say after a few seconds. Sara felt his lips smile on her skin when he kissed her neck. He couldn’t see her but he knew that she was smiling too. He let his head on her shoulder again and closed his eyes, tired but happy.


	23. Road trip

“Are you okay?”  
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her tone and overall body language told a different story though.  
Michael frowned, perplexed. He didn’t like not understanding things in general and he didn’t like not understanding things when it came to Sara. It seemed that she had been in a bad mood since they had woken up and, considering it was Sunday, the last day he would see her before the following weekend, he wanted to know why she was that irritable. He knew it wasn’t because it was that time of the month (after dating Sara for a few months, he knew when her menstruations were and they had just ended). He didn’t think he had done anything worth being mad at but he really had no clue so he insisted: “What’s wrong, Sara?”  
“Nothing.”  
“I can tell that there’s something bothering you. What is it?”  
“Nothing”, she repeated, a little more irritated than the first time.  
“Okay”, he said, putting his hands up in surrender. Not sure how to proceed he decided to talk about something else: “Do you want to go visit my brother next weekend?” Michael’s niece was two weeks old and he had gone to the hospital with Sara hours after her birth. He had visited again the day before but Sara didn’t join him as she was working at the hospital.  
“I’m not sure if I will be able to”, was all she answered.  
Michael narrowed his gaze on her and waited for her to elaborate but nothing followed her initial response. He knew that she was not supposed to work. He didn’t like to confront people and he certainly didn’t want to fight with Sara, far from it, but he didn’t want to spend the rest of his day with her like that, not if he could help it. “So you’re not going to tell me why you’ve been distant and moody all day?”  
Sara avoided his eyes and looked angry now. “Will you let it go please?”  
“No.” Michael’s answer wasn’t loud but it was firm.  
“No?” Sara repeated.  
“No. Not without telling me why you’ve been acting weird all day.”  
“You’re right, I’m not good company today and I just want to go back home, okay?” She got up from the couch and gathered her things before heading for the door.  
Seeing her determination, Michael panicked for an instant before he stood up as well and took his jacket, joining her in the entrance of his apartment. Sara interrogated him with her eyes and heard him say: “I’m walking you home.” His statement didn’t leave any place to questioning.  
“Fine”, she replied with less irritation in her voice. She was stubborn but Michael was too so she didn’t oppose any resistance.

 

The walk to Sara’s place was silent. For once, Michael didn’t take Sara’s hand in his, opting to hide his hands in his jeans pockets. He kept stealing glances at her, trying to find something, anything, that would indicate that she was ready to talk to him but he found nothing. Sara took her keys from her purse and turned to face Michael, more or less hoping that he would leave her on the sidewalk in front of her apartment building but he didn’t seem to be ready to go back to his place: “Michael, I’m tired and I just want to be alone.” It was true, she hadn’t slept well the night before. She usually slept well when she shared a bed with Michael but for once she hadn’t.  
“What are you going to do?”  
“I don’t know. Do some laundry and maybe find a comedy to watch on Netflix?”  
“Can I come up?” he asked in a pleading tone. “Not for long”, he assured her.  
“Okay”, she relented. Her resolve to spend the rest of her day alone, brooding, was getting thinner and thinner.

 

Michael waited while she grabbed her wash and put it in the machine. He was examining her book collection on the bookshelves when he heard her come back in the living room. Before she told him once more that she wanted to be alone, he talked first: “Listen, Sara. You can tell me anything. Anything at all.” Sara remained silent, her eyes glued on the floor between their feet. “Maybe I did something wrong and you’re mad at me because of that but please talk to me.” Sara shook her head. Michael had searched his brain in desperate attempts to understand Sara’s behaviour that day but he had come up empty. In a shaky voice, he said: “Is it about us? I mean, if it is, you can tell me. I love you but I’m a big boy and I can take it. So I’m asking you: is it about us?”  
Sara finally looked at Michael as his words registered. “No, no, it has nothing to do with us.” She saw Michael sigh in relief at her answer. Clearly, he had thought the worst of her attitude even if it had never been her intention. She exhaled loudly before speaking up: “I’m sorry, Michael. I didn’t mean to scare you or anything. I just… It’s not…” She cleared her throat, trying to find the words that were currently eluding her. “It’s the anniversary of my mother’s death on Friday.”  
“Oh”, Michael said, realization hitting him. It was not what he expected at all. Not that what he heard was good but at least it made sense. He took her hand in his and gave her a warm smile. “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I pushed you to tell me.”  
“It’s okay, Michael. I actually feel better now that you know.”  
“Do you usually do anything special?”  
“I go visit her grave and put flowers on it.” Michael nodded. “My father often comes with me but he won’t be able to come this year as he’s on the road for the campaign.”  
Without hesitation, Michael asked: “Do you want me to go with you?”  
“You don’t need to. I can go by myself.”  
“I know you can. It’s not what I was asking. You don’t have to be alone. So, do you want me to go with you?”  
“It’s Friday. You work on Fridays…”  
“That can be arranged.”  
“It’s a four-hour drive from here.”  
“Another reason not to go by yourself.”  
“You’re not going to stop until I accept, are you?”  
“There’s a good chance of that”, he replied with a warm smile.  
“Okay then. You can join me.”  
Michael’s smile grew a little bigger. “How are you driving there?”  
“I usually rent a car when I’m not with my father.”  
“Have you rented it yet?”  
“Not yet.”  
“We could borrow Sofia’s car if you want. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind it for a couple of days.”  
“Thanks, Michael.” She led them to the couch where they took a seat next to each other. “I’ve booked a room in the only hotel in town. Still okay with you?”  
“Of course.”  
“Thanks.” With that, she put her head on Michael’s shoulder and grabbed the tv remote. “Movie?”  
“Yeah.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael who had picked up Sofia’s car the day before when Sara was still working was waiting for her at 8:00 am sharp in front of her building with a coffee and a muffin from Starbucks. Sara entered the vehicle as he was sending her a message.  
“Hey”, Michael said.  
“Hey”, Sara replied, sitting down.  
He indicated the coffee and the paper bag “I wasn’t sure if you had time to have breakfast…”  
“Thanks.” She grabbed the coffee and eyed the inscription on it. “I love you”, it said. Sara gave a small smile to Michael and asked, her eyebrows raised: “Did you really tell the barista to write this down?”  
“No”, he said while taking a permanent marker from his jacket. He saw her look at his cup and heard her chuckle when she read what Michael had written on it: “Private driver”. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The drive was long but fortunately uneventful and they arrived around 1:00 pm, stopping first at a flower shop. Michael walked with Sara in the cemetery and helped her place the flowers on her mother’s grave. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and told her to take her time before leaving her alone.  
Sara waited for Michael to be far enough to open her mouth: “Hey, Mom”, she started. She took a moment to keep her emotions in check and steady her voice before continuing. “Dad couldn’t come but I see that he hasn’t forgotten.” She looked at the beautiful flower arrangement that her father had sent and that was now sharing the space with hers. “He’s so busy with the campaign. Can you believe that he might become the next Vice-President?! I think he’s in California right now. Unless he’s in Arizona. I get confused with all the travelling.” She stopped her monologue and glanced in Michael’s direction. “I didn’t come alone though. I came with Michael, my boyfriend. He insisted on joining me actually. He’s the one who left the origami crane. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I know it’s almost incredible, me being in a relationship, but it’s true. Michael is…” She hesitated. How could she describe Michael Scofield and what he meant to her? “He’s amazing”, she finally said. She could have said so much more but she thought that it resumed things perfectly. “As surprising as it is, he beat Dad twice at chess already. I don’t know if Dad is mad about it or thoroughly impressed. Maybe both at the same time.” She chuckled. “Anyways, Michael and I drove here together. We’re going to go back to Chicago tomorrow.” She paused again and saw Michael looking back at her in the distance. “I remember a conversation we had when I learned that my friend Amanda’s parents were about to divorce. You told me that for a lasting relationship you needed to find someone who will love you for you, and not only for your qualities but also with your shortcomings. I think I finally understand what you meant by that.” She smiled to herself and felt rain drops on her face. She looked up, taking in the black clouds that were back in the sky, and put her hood on her head. She returned her gaze to the grave and her eyes fell on the crane. She was still smiling when she exhaled shortly after, her shoulders dropping in the process. “Alright, Mom. I’d better go before we end up drenched. I love you.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a few steps towards Michael who immediately turned to face her with a tender smile on his lips despite the rain. They quickly retreated to the car and drove to the hotel.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Her body sprawled on the bed, Sara let herself relax for the first time that day. Michael was laying beside her, but not like he used to when they were together. For once, he was giving her some space. He didn’t want to force Sara in any way, shape or form so if she wanted to be closer to him, it would be her decision.  
“She was a pediatrician… My mother.” Michael looked at Sara whose eyes were still fixed on the television. “She continued working after I was born but not full time. She thought it was important for me to see her as more than just my mother and a housewife. Many people tell me that I look a lot like my mother, and not just physically. My father thinks I have the same sense of humour.” Her lips curled up in a small smile. “I did a rotation in Pediatrics when I was in Med School. I almost didn’t make it. That’s one thing to see adult patients suffer but when it’s children… That’s when I knew Peds wasn’t for me. Emergency medicine seemed much easier in comparison.” She kept staring in front of her, apparently focussed on the television despite its low volume. “I still miss her… I missed her when I graduated from high school. I missed her when I became a doctor.” She paused for a second. “I wish you could have met her.” Michael smiled at Sara. He wished that too. “I know it’s ridiculous but every year on March 10th, and the days leading to this date, I am not in a good mood and I just wait for it to pass, mostly alone. And I’m sorry I shut you off on Sunday. I don’t talk about her very often.” She looked at Michael nervously when she finished and opted for some humour to diffuse the tension: “Don’t worry, everything should go back to normal tomorrow.”  
He held her gaze. “Apologies accepted and, for your information, I don’t think it’s ridiculous, Sara. You’re allowed to be sad.” She looked at Michael and saw understanding in his eyes. If anyone could empathise with her, it was obviously him. That thought made her feel better already. “Now I’m not an expert by any means”, he continued, “but if it only becomes an issue on one particular day each year, I would say that you are coping quite well considering. Much better than I was for a long time.” Sara stared at Michael but he was the one avoiding her gaze now. “It’s better now thanks to years of therapy.” She gave him an inquisitive look when he finally glanced in her direction. “It’s true, therapy helped a lot. I sometimes wished I had more memories to tap into. Instead, I had to rely on what could have been but it wasn’t all bad as it allowed me to imagine an almost perfect life. I’m grateful I wasn’t alone in this though. Lincoln became more than just a brother to me. He’s the one who taught me how to make origami. He regularly left a crane for me on my bed or in my school bag, just to let me know that he was there for me and that things would get better.” He smiled. “He was my only family for the longest time but eventually that changed. It started with LJ, then it was Sofia. Now we have another baby in the family! And Sucre and his family became a part of our extended family. And…” Michael took Sara’s hand in his while he locked eyes with her, smiling even more. “And you too.”  
Sara moved closer to Michael on the bed and he put his arm around her. She exhaled loudly and let her eyes return to the screen in front of her. “Thanks, Michael. For everything.”  
“You’re welcome, Sara.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The restaurant was quite busy even for a Friday night. It was a restaurant with several screens showing sports, not their first choice by any means, but it was next to the hotel and after the long drive, they appreciated being able to walk there and not using the car again. They either could wait for a table to become available or opt for seats at the bar, which they quickly chose as both of them were already starving. They spent their meal watching the hockey game in front of them, mostly silent. The Blackhawks were playing against Detroit that night and were losing in the third period much to the crowd’s displeasure in the restaurant. They were finishing their dessert when Sara heard a voice to her right.  
“Hey, do you come here often?” Sara briefly glanced at the stranger and returned her attention to the game, not even bothering to answer the question asked by the man who clearly had too much to drink. “Come on, what’s a pretty lady like you doing here in a sports bar?” Sara looked at him again, disbelief in her eyes. It was just her luck, being accosted by a drunk stranger who wouldn’t leave her alone. “I’m Jacob by the way. And you are…?”  
“Not interested”, Sara answered, doing her best to remain polite but feeling that she was going to fail if the man insisted.  
“Oh, fierce, I like it! So, enjoying the game?”  
“Well, we were before you interrupted us.”  
“We…?”  
“Yes, my boyfriend and I”, she retorted, her patience growing thin.  
“He’s the boyfriend?” The man pointed at Michael with scepticism.  
“Yes, he is. Come on, Michael. We’re leaving.” Sara got up and grabbed her purse before asking the waitress to pack their dessert and prepare their bill.  
Michael was about to follow her when he heard the man talk: ““You’re her boyfriend and yet, you let me talk to her? What kind of boyfriend are you?”  
“The kind that respects her and thinks that she can talk for herself. I’m going to leave now before one of us does something he will regret.”  
They paid and quickly exited the restaurant, relieved to have escaped an annoying and potentially tricky situation.

 

Back at the hotel, Michael and Sara returned to the game and their dessert, comfortably sitting on the king size bed. When the match ended, with a loss for Chicago that seemed to leave Sara disappointed, Michael spoke up: “I never imagined you were a hockey fan.”  
“My father regularly brought me to Blackhawks games when I was younger. Not a hockey fan yourself?” She hadn’t even asked him that before. Michael hadn’t said a word indicating otherwise the whole evening.  
“I’ve always preferred basketball.”  
“Really?! I thought for some reason that you were more a baseball kind of guy. But basketball, huh?”  
“Yeah. If you want to know everything, my career was almost cut short when I caught an elbow playing basketball!” Seeing Sara’s questioning look, he continued: “Blood everywhere”, he explained showing a small scar just above his left eyebrow. “But I persisted and, despite my height”, he added with a teasing look in Sara’s direction, “I wasn’t too bad.”  
Sara smiled at him. “Full confession, attending a playoffs game in Chicago to cheer for the Blackhawks is on my bucket list.”  
“Well, I’ve always wanted to take cooking classes in France”, Michael replied without thinking, mirroring her smile.  
“Going to Paris is also on my bucket list. I’ve always wanted to visit all the museums there. There are so many French painters that I love: Monet, Cezanne, Matisse…”  
“I find it hard to believe that you’ve never been.”  
“I know. I went to Italy with my father, of course. On our ancestors’ trail. I went to Spain. I went to Germany, Holland, England and even Wales. But not France. Got to keep things to do on your bucket list, right?” Sara felt that she couldn’t really tell Michael that the only reason that she had never been to France was because she wanted to go there with her boyfriend (or husband) and well, the occasion had never presented itself. Not yet. For her, Paris was the city of love and who better to share the experience with than with her boyfriend or husband? Keeping her reflection to herself, she interrogated Michael again: “Anything else on your bucket list?”  
“You’re probably going to laugh.”  
“No, I won’t. I promise.”  
“Growing up in foster care, huh, we never got to experience some of the cool stuff other kids would get to do and I know it’s stupid because there are so many more important things to do but I’ve always told myself that when I have children of my own, I would bring them to Disney World.”  
Sara looked at the man next to her and smiled. “See, I’m not laughing. I actually find that very sweet, Michael.” She leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael sensed soft lips on his right shoulder blade as he was lying on his stomach. He was slowly emerging from deep sleep and tried to remain in that in-between state for a little longer, keeping his eyes shut despite Sara’s insistence that he woke up. Her lips continued to explore his back and he sighed, thinking that life couldn’t get better than that. He smiled. Sara suddenly shifted next to him and he instantly missed her. But before he could even complain, he felt Sara’s body on his again. More precisely, he became aware that she had discarded her top and that her breasts were now completely pressing against his bare back. His breathing accelerated and his mind started to race.  
“What are you doing, Sara?” he whispered.  
“I think it’s pretty obvious what I am doing”, Sara replied, kissing the corner of his mouth.  
“You want to do that here?”  
“Why not?” Her warm breath was on his neck and Michael shivered when she bit his ear lobe in a seductive manner, making her intentions very clear, if it was at all necessary for him at that point.  
“Huh…” He started to turn around and opened his eyes in the process. He blinked twice at the sight in front of him and around him. “Am I dreaming?” he asked with a frown.  
“It depends if you are talking literally or figuratively”, she replied teasingly.  
Michael chuckled. “You are literally naked.”  
“You are very observant.” She repositioned herself above Michael and slowly leaned forward to brush his lips with hers. “Don’t tell me, you were actually dreaming. Again!” She rested her head on his shoulder for a second before lifting it again to look Michael in the eyes. “I guess I should be happy that I was a part of your dream and not replaced by some random woman.” Michael smiled and gently caressed her cheek. “Where were we this time?” she asked.  
“Costa Rica. The beach in front of my house.”  
“You’re saying we can’t do that on your beach?” She kissed him sensually, leaving him flustered for a second.  
“Not in the afternoon when people could see us!”  
“And what about at night?”  
“Hum… I don’t know. Perhaps we could get away with it…”  
“I certainly hope so…”  
“Dr. Tancredi, is that you confessing your sexual fantasies right now?”  
“Maybe…”  
Michael smiled and connected his lips with hers. He decided that now wasn’t the right time to tell Sara that one of his fantasies was about to play out. He preferred to enjoy the moment. God, he loved that woman.


	24. Happy birthday, Sara!

The doorbell rang and Michael sprung to the entrance of his apartment. He opened the door which revealed Sam, Anna, Ali and Marc. “Welcome, guys!” Michael let them in and followed them inside. He introduced the group to his brother and Fernando who were already there and offered them drinks. Fernando was alone because Sofia unfortunately had to stay at home with a sick child.  
“So Michael”, Sam asked, “do you think Sara suspects anything?”  
“I hope not! Sofia took her shopping today. She said she needed new clothes for her post-pregnancy body.” He pointed at the baby currently asleep in her car seat near Lincoln as he finished.  
April 22nd was Sara’s birthday, her 30th birthday, and Michael had taken upon himself to organize a party for her. A surprise party. 

 

Elsewhere almost at the same time, Sofia and Sara were finally done with their shopping. Sofia took her cell phone from her purse and called Lincoln.  
“Hey Linc. Sara and I are done. We should be there in 20 minutes.”   
Sara listened to the conversation as it continued with long pauses on Sofia’s side when Lincoln was talking. Something was odd, Sara thought, in the way that Sofia was giving short answers to her boyfriend, at the exact opposite of what she usually did. Sara paid closer attention to Sofia’s body language and it felt even more bizarre. It was like Sofia was avoiding looking in Sara’s direction. Something was up, Sara would bet on it. “Sofia, can you please give me the phone? I need to talk to Michael.”   
Seeing Sara’s determined look, Sofia repeated the words to Lincoln and reluctantly gave her the phone, hoping for the best.  
Hearing his brother tell him that Sara was on the line for him, Michael worried suddenly but tried to act as nonchalantly as possible when he opened his mouth: “Hey Sara, what’s up?”  
“What’s up? You tell me, Michael! Are you planning something for my birthday other than supper and a quiet evening at your place?”  
There was a silence on the other end of the line. Michael hesitated briefly before answering. Damn, he wondered if the idea of a big party was a good one after all. In any case, the surprise effect had just gone down the drain. Honesty was probably his best option at that point. He inhaled deeply and answered Sara. “Well, there’s food and so far, everyone is rather calm so it’s still going to be supper and a quiet evening if you want to. Just more people than you initially thought there would be…” He waited for Sara to say something but he didn’t hear her. “Sara, are you there?”  
“Yeah, I’m here. I guess it’s too late to send them home?”  
Michael wasn’t sure if Sara was joking or not. He laughed nervously and looked at the others in the room when I hung up. They were staring at him expectantly and got a little disappointed when Michael explained them everything. So much for trying to keep it a surprise.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael opened the door and let Sofia and Sara enter the apartment. Sofia quickly joined Lincoln and the baby, leaving the couple alone. Sara had been silent for the car ride despite Sofia’s various attempts to start a conversation. Michael kept his gaze on Sara as she walked in his direction and stopped in front of him. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and with a smile on his lips he wished her a “happy birthday” in a very sweet and loving voice. Then, Sara took his hand in hers and they made their way to the living room where she faked surprise and made everyone laugh. After several hugs, Sara went to the kitchen and admired what was on the island: food, lots of food, and beautiful flowers in a vase. She looked at Michael once again and without a word grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and led him to the bedroom. She shut the door behind them under everyone’s curious gaze.  
“You did all this? The people? The food? The flowers?”  
In his confused state, Michael couldn’t tell if Sara was happy or angry. “If you want the whole truth, the people, I only made a few phone calls. The food, yes, it’s me, except for the cake that is going to mysteriously appear later. Sam and Anna brought it. As for the flowers, they’re from your father.”  
Sara hummed. “Yeah, he couldn’t make it so I get flowers instead,” she said bitterly.  
Michael chose to remain silent.   
“So, besides the flowers and the cake, you’re the one behind all this food? I mean, there’s enough food for an army! When did you have time to do all this?”  
“Well, I took advantage of the fact that you left me alone yesterday.” He glanced at Sara who was about to object. “Yeah, yeah, I know, you had a good excuse, you were saving lives”, he joked. “I prepared most of it last night, the rest today.”   
Michael had a shy smile on his lips when he finished. Sara stood in front of him and gently grabbed his tie to pull him towards her before capturing his lips in a passionate kiss. When they eventually parted, Sara slowly opened her eyes and saw Michael looking back at her. It was a good thing they had been behind a closed door, he thought.  
“Thank you, Michael”, she said finally in a tender voice. “I usually don’t like surprise parties but I think I’m going to like this one.” Her wide smile told him that her words were sincere and he exhaled in relief, mirroring her expression. Time to celebrate!

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

At some point, Sara took a minute to enjoy the moment and appreciate the sight around her. She was sitting on a high stool at the kitchen island with Marc, both sipping their drinks. The evening was perfect. The food, as expected, had been delicious (and there would be lots of left-overs). And the people, it was as if they had all known each other for years. Finally, she let her gaze fall on Michael, the mastermind who had organized everything. He was chatting animatedly with Lincoln and Sofia who was holding their daughter in her arms. God, could he look any more attractive, she pondered. She saw him check his phone briefly and return to the conversation. Michael had once again opted to wear the tie that she had offered him for Christmas but had paired it with jeans and a light grey shirt which softened the look as compared to a white or black shirt.   
Marc didn’t miss Sara’s gaze on her boyfriend and couldn’t refrain himself from asking: “Like the view?”   
“Look at him! I mean…”  
“Yes, he’s easy on the eyes”, he said without hesitation.  
“He’s delicious!”  
“Are you talking about Michael, Sara?!” Ali had just joined them and wanted to know what their whispers were about…  
“Don’t you think that he’s delicious?!” Sara asked sincerely, discreetly pointing at Michael.  
“I don’t think I’ve ever found anyone “delicious”. Regardless of their gender. But, from a very objective standpoint, I must say that he’s handsome.”  
“Handsome doesn’t seem enough. He’s beautiful!” Sara replied with even more conviction.  
Ali was about to comment on Sara’s infatuation for Michael when he took his niece in his arms and both Sara and Marc cooed at the sight.  
“Come on, don’t tell me you’re like those people who think a man with a baby is sexy?!”  
“I believe”, Marc interjected, “that Sara always finds Michael sexy. Right, Sara?”  
“You got me!” Sara replied with a chuckle.  
“Have you talked about kids, you and Michael?” Ali asked. She wasn’t sure motherhood was for her but she was curious nonetheless.  
“No”, she said at first. Then she corrected herself: “Well, yeah. But it was before we were actually together. It was just an hypothetical conversation, not about us having kids together. We haven’t talked about it since.”  
“But you’re thinking about it”, Ali countered.   
Sara was saved by the door bell that rang unexpectedly. Without a word, Michael gave his niece back to her mother and went to the door. A few seconds later, Sara heard Michael’s voice as he looked over his shoulder in her direction: “Sara, it’s for you”.  
Sara walked to the door and gasped when she saw who was there. “Dad! You’re here!” Sara hugged him tightly. “I thought you were only supposed to come back tomorrow?”  
“Well, I got a call”, he said, glancing at Michael who was behind Sara, “and it seemed like a good idea to rearrange my schedule so that I didn’t miss my beautiful daughter’s birthday party! Happy birthday, sweetheart!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Now that Sara knew everything, she understood why they had waited so long for the cake. The cake had been very good and Sara had received cool presents from her father and her friends. Only Michael’s presents were left. He handed her one which looked like a piece of clothing. Curious, Sara quickly opened the wrapping paper and found a red Jonathan Toews tee-shirt. Sara had a puzzled look on her face. Yes, they had talked about hockey a little bit when they had gone on their road trip the month before but it was weird to think that Michael would offer her merchandise from the Chicago Blackhawks. Even if it was with the captain’s name and number on it.  
Sensing her confusion, Michael explained: “The tee-shirt goes with this.” He then proceeded to hand her an envelope. Inside were tickets for a game between the Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild.  
“Are you serious, Michael?! Tickets for the playoffs?! On the 25th?”  
“Yes, Tuesday. I know your favorite tv show is on Tuesdays but I hope you’ll make an exception…”  
“Are you kidding me?! It’s the playoffs!! Don’t worry, I can watch my show the day after. But why three tickets?”   
“I thought you would want to go with your father as you often went together when you were younger. But I was also hoping that you would like to take me too so… three tickets. And before you ask, yes, I checked with your father and he’s free on Tuesday night!”  
Sara cupped his face in her hands and, ignoring that all eyes were on them, kissed Michael on the lips. Not a chaste kiss. No. On the contrary! It was a very hot kiss where lips parted and tongues got involved. The intensity of the kiss left Michael flustered for a second. “Best. Boyfriend. Ever.”   
They both chuckled as they heard feigned gasps coming from their friends and Lincoln who muttered: “Come on, guys, there’s a child in here” which made everyone laugh.  
Michael felt his cheeks redden but Sara didn’t seem fazed at all when she retorted: “It’s my birthday, I get to do whatever I want to!”  
“Fair enough, Sara”, Lincoln replied. “You know, the only other time in recent years that I’ve seen my brother blush, it was because of you too.”  
Sara gave Michael an inquisitive look as if asking him to reveal what Lincoln meant exactly. Before he could think of an appropriate answer, his brother beat him to it: “Yeah, he was three hours late to come to our place and when we grilled him to know why, we understood that you were the reason why. I think it’s the first time you met.” A smug grin was plastered on Lincoln’s face when he finished. Michael’s embarrassment had only increased, which Sara found even more endearing.  
Frank Tancredi smiled too when he heard the story. He also remembered when Sara had been late for their lunch on the day she had just met Michael. Clearly there had been sparks on both sides since the beginning. He had never seen his daughter so happy, he mused. Neither so comfortable with public displays of affection before. He didn’t think that he needed to see that at all… 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael and Sara ended up at Sara’s apartment after leaving Lincoln, Sofia and the baby sleep at Michael’s place. Sara and Michael made a stop in the kitchen to grab a glass of water before Sara ordered him to the bedroom with an assured voice: “I think that now is the time for my last birthday present…”  
“How do you know there’s another present for you?” Michael had a confused look on his face.  
“Because the present is in front of me?” Sara answered with a seductive voice.  
“Oh! You think that I’m your present?!” Michael’s confusion was replaced by amusement. That was something that he hadn’t planned but that he could definitely get behind.  
“Well, yeah!” Sara started to work on Michael’s tie. “See, I’m unwrapping my present.” She removed the tie completely and pushed him towards the bedroom where she, to her surprise, found an origami flower set on her pillow. A flower similar to the one that Michael had given her for Valentine’s Day. Sara took the rose in her hand and stared at Michael. “When did you put that here?!”  
“A magician never reveals his secrets”, he mysteriously replied.  
Seeing that he would never tell her, she simply smiled, thanked him and returned to what she thought was her last present…


	25. Doctor Scofield

It was Friday, July 7th. Michael was getting excited about the prospect of leaving for Costa Rica with Sara in a week. As often in recent months, Sara was working late, which meant that he would be spending his evening alone. After cleaning his apartment and doing some wash, he decided to do something for Sara, a little surprise that he would bring her the next day. A few minutes later, smiling to himself, he entered a convenience store down the street. He was on his way to pay for the item that he needed for his surprise when he heard a loud voice.  
“Give me your wallet and your phone!” A large and scary looking man was pointing a gun at him. He was the one who had talked to Michael.   
Michael’s eyes widened in shock. Fuck, he thought. “I don’t have my wallet with me, neither my phone”, he replied nervously as he glanced around and saw another man with a baseball bat on the other side of the counter. He was next to the store employee, putting money in a bag.  
The first man spoke again, irritation evident in his voice: “Give me your wallet and your phone! NOW!”   
“I only have a $20 bill on me”, Michael replied, trying simultaneously to go for his jeans pocket. He never had the chance to grab the bill. Instead he was violently hit by the second man who had walked in his direction without his knowledge and in all likelihood had used his baseball bat on him. Michael held his mid-section under the impact and groaned loudly. It hurt. Badly. The man in charge, the one with the gun, repeated his orders. Michael tried to convince him that it was true and that they could search him but his aggressor, frustrated by how the robbery was unfolding, hit him once again. Michael barely had time to raise his right arm to protect himself from another assault. The force of it made him wince in pain (his hand had received the strike but had probably saved his skull!) and he fell backwards on the shelves behind him. In his fall, he hit his head on a corner of a shelf and felt his skin break open in the process. Fuck, he thought one more time, this isn’t going well. Before he was attacked for a third time, he heard sirens in the distance and sighed in relief as the two criminals decided to run and leave the scene before the police arrived.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“31-year-old male victim of a robbery. Possible broken ribs and hand plus laceration to the head. No loss of consciousness.”   
Michael thought that the paramedic’s voice sounded mechanic as if his report was a normal occurrence to him. And maybe it was. It was Chicago after all and robberies were common. He was trying to focus on moving as little as possible since it hurt more every time he tried to move an inch. Even breathing was difficult. The staff in the E.R. transferred him from the gurney to the bed and he hissed in pain. The physician introduced herself to get Michael’s attention and was shocked when she realized who the patient was: “Michael?!”  
Michael looked at the person who had addressed him and was surprised to learn that Dr. Harris was in fact Sam, Sara’s colleague at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Of course he had been brought to that hospital!  
“Hey Sam. I would say it’s good to see you but under the circumstances…” He tried to joke despite his current state of agony but didn’t even feel like smiling at his own witticism.   
“Okay, Michael. I’m going to have to look at you. It might hurt a bit. I’m sorry.”  
Michael had lost his tee-shirt earlier in the ambulance when the paramedic had cut it in order to check him. He endured another very painful examination that confirmed that there was no internal bleeding, probably “only” broken ribs as suggested by the paramedics. Sam excused herself and went outside the examination room with her resident: “Dr. Gomez, please go see where Dr. Tancredi is and report back to me.” Dr. Gomez, a promising female resident, nodded. “Oh, and Dr. Gomez, no need to let her know, okay?”  
“Absolutely, Dr. Harris.”   
Dr. Gomez didn’t understand the reason behind the secrecy but acquiesced nonetheless. It wasn’t her job to question her superior. She was back a minute later, giving Sam enough time to talk to Michael about the next steps. “Dr. Tancredi is writing up notes for her trauma patient at the nurses’ station.”  
“Great. Thank you. Please contact radiology and tell them we have a patient for them.”  
“Right away.”  
Sam left the room once again and went to find Sara. She didn’t look forward to the discussion with her colleague but it was inevitable. She exhaled and touched Sara’s left arm to get her attention: “Sara, are you almost done?”  
Sara gave her a response without looking up from her chart: “One minute, Sam, and I’m all yours.” She finished and glanced at her colleague. “What is it, Sam? Is this about your patient?”  
“Yeah, it is actually… Huh, can you come with me, please?” Sam was feeling nervous. She stopped outside the room where Michael was lying. “Listen, Sara. The patient is… It’s Michael.”  
Sara’s heart skipped a beat. And not in a good way. “WHAT?!”  
“He was admitted earlier tonight with multiple injuries. I suspect fractures… Ribs and fingers. We’re about to send him for x-rays. I thought you would want to see him before and maybe go with him?”  
“Yeah” was the only word Sara pronounced before entering the examination room with apprehension. She gasped when she saw Michael. He did his best to mask the intense pain he was in but Sara knew better. She couldn’t remember hearing anything about a laceration so she hoped that whatever had happened to his head wasn’t too serious. “Hey”, she said in a shaky voice.  
“Sara! I missed you and I thought I could pay you a visit… Surprise!” He wanted to sound light but his words lacked conviction.  
Sara was beside him in an instant then stopped suddenly. “I don’t want to hurt you…”  
Seeing Sara’s hesitation, Michael once again decided to use humour to diffuse the tension: “My lips are fine”, he said with a small smile.  
Despite the severity of the situation, Sara couldn’t help but chuckle and leaned in to kiss him lightly on the lips. Sara resumed her position by the side of the bed and asked: “How are you feeling?”  
“I won’t lie to you; it hurts… Sam said they’re going to roll me to radiology?”  
“Yeah, about that… They can’t do the x-rays with your jeans on. Maybe I can find you some scrubs to put on instead? They won’t interfere with the x-rays.”  
“Yeah, I’d rather not wander around the hospital in my underwear!” Michael started to chuckle but abruptly stopped when the pain increased.  
Sara squeezed his left hand, the one that wasn’t injured, and went to find what she had promised Michael. She soon returned to the room with a pair of pants and a top borrowed from the staff’s supply closet. “Take off your pants!”  
Michael raised an eyebrow: “Wow, straight to the point! Do you talk to all of your patients like that, Dr. Tancredi?”  
“Shut up, Michael”, she replied with a small smile on her lips.  
Michael unbuttoned his jeans and tried to remove them but winced in pain. With his ribs bothering him and his right hand basically out of the equation, it was mission impossible. “Can you help me, please?”  
“Sure”, Sara replied. She put her hands on his hips and assisted him gently.   
“You know”, Michael said teasingly, “when I imagined you helping me undress, it’s not what I had in mind…”  
Sara smiled again and aided him with the scrub pants then called Dr. Gomez who was waiting outside as she was in charge of getting Michael to radiology.  
Seeing Michael and Sara together, Dr. Gomez immediately recognized that they were a couple. That explained everything. You have good taste, Dr. T, she thought to herself, very good taste. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Two sets of x-rays confirmed Sam’s suspicions. The next step involved sending Michael back to the E.R. where he got a cast for his hand. Then it was time to take care of his forehead. Sam briefly talked to Michael and Sara to inform them that a plastics resident was on her way and that Sara didn’t need to worry about going back to work that evening as Sam had already talked to their superior and arranged everything. Sam explained that they could do the stiches themselves but that plastics would do a better job, considering where the cut was. Half an hour and some paperwork later, Michael was free to go.  
While he was putting his shoes on, Sara finally expressed what had been on her mind since she entered the examination room earlier and saw him: “Jeez, you scared the hell out of me, Michael!”   
“Yeah, well, I needed a good excuse to see you tonight. Like I said, I missed you. I really missed you.”   
He smiled and tried to lean in to kiss her but Sara held her hand in front of her, stopping him in his tracks. “Two broken ribs, two broken fingers and six stiches… Next time you miss me and feel like a needy boyfriend, call me or come and see me at the hospital but please do not get yourself almost killed!”  
“Sorry”, he apologized. When they were about to leave the room, Michael couldn’t help but inquire: “So do I look legit in scrubs?”  
Sara shook her head: “Yeah, you look great, Doctor Scofield. Now come on, let’s get you home.”


	26. Dreams

Saturday, July 8th 

 

Michael woke up and forgot for a second what had happened the night before: the robbery, the E.R., everything. Reality hit him hard when he decided to shift positions in bed. He groaned in pain as Sara was entering the bedroom. She sat down on his side of the bed.  
“How are you feeling?” Her eyes were full of concern.  
“Like I’ve been hit by a truck!”  
She hummed in understanding and offered him a small smile. “Broken ribs hurt terribly.”  
“That they do…”  
“Did you sleep okay?”  
“I had terrible dreams but at least I slept.”  
“Oh no! No hammock, no making out on a beach in Costa Rica?”  
“Nope. Far from it actually. We were chased by bad guys armed with guns.”  
“You and me?”  
“And Lincoln.”  
“Okay… I guess the events of last night fuelled your imagination.”  
“They didn’t look like the two guys from the robbery though. They were all wearing suits. There were women too. It was weird. But one thing was sure: they wanted to kill us. And we kept running, trying to escape them. That was exhausting!”  
Sara smirked. She was used to Michael’s strange dreams by now. “I bet it was.”  
She got up from the bed and Michael followed her. He found a pair of navy basketball shorts and put them on. But it was another story for his tee-shirt. Between the cast on his right hand and the discomfort in his torso getting the tee-shirt over his head was no small feat. Fingers 4 and 5 were broken but the cast only left his thumb and index finger free to move, his middle finger having been included in the cast in an attempt to better immobilize the fractured fingers.  
Sara saw him struggle. “Do you need a hand?”  
“Ha ha, good one! Are you always that cheeky with your patients?”  
Sara scoffed. “Hey, I’m not your doctor. I’m just your girlfriend who happens to be a physician.”  
Michael smiled. “This is what I get for wishing you to play doctor with me…”  
Sara chuckled. 

 

Michael followed Sara in the kitchen where she opened the fridge to examine its content. “Toasts?” she asked.  
“I guess so”, Michael replied, defeated. “I’m sorry about our ordinary breakfast.”  
“Toasts are okay”, she reassured him.  
“But we were supposed to have pancakes for breakfast, Sara. My plan was to prepare and deliver them to you this morning.” He had a sad look on his face.  
“But you don’t have any eggs in your fridge.”  
“I know. Why do you think I went to the convenience store yesterday?”  
Shock was quick to appear on Sara’s face. “You’re saying that you got injured because of me?” Her pitch was a little higher than usual.  
“No, no, no, I’m just saying that I wanted to have pancakes with you this morning. Hey, I didn’t get injured because of you: you were not the one playing baseball with my body!”  
“But still… If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been caught in the middle of a robbery.”  
“Listen to me, Sara. This is not your fault.” Sara had her face in her hands. “Look at me”, Michael instructed her in a soft voice. When she finally looked up, he continued: “This is not your fault. It was just bad timing. Besides, I’m lucky that they only broke fingers on one of my hands and not on both!”  
And with that, Sara smiled a little, thankful once again for Michael’s presence in her life and for his sweet sense of humour, even in situations that didn’t necessarily rhyme with comedy. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Monday, July 10th 

 

Michael had spent his Saturday and Sunday doing pretty much the same thing: resting. He had alternated between the bed and the couch, falling asleep for short naps from time to time, while Sara had gone to her apartment to do some laundry and get ready for the week ahead. She had come back to Michael’s place with a clean set of clothes for work because she had decided to go straight to the hospital that morning. With regards to Michael, he was on sick leave for the week so no work for him. That didn’t prevent him from waking up early and joining Sara in the kitchen where she was eating breakfast.  
“Good morning”, he said, sitting down on one of the high stools.  
“Good morning! How did you sleep?”  
“Poorly”, he quipped back.  
“That bad, huh? Dreams again?”  
“Yep.” Sara looked at him and saw his shoulders drop. She also noticed how tired he seemed. Michael continued: “Yesterday, I dreamt that I was held captive by strange people in a house lost in the woods and last night, in my dream, we were all in prison at some point or another. You, me, Linc, Sucre and even LJ! That was crazy! I don’t know what’s going on but I’ve never had dreams like that before…”  
“The morphine in your meds probably plays a role”, Sara offered.   
“In that case, I don’t want to take them anymore”, Michael retorted firmly.  
Sara knew that Michael was stubborn and that when he had something in mind it was difficult for him to let it go. She also knew that she didn’t have much time if she didn’t want to be late. “Look, I have to go but we’ll talk about this later, okay? Take your other painkillers, they don’t have morphine in them.”  
“Yes, doctor.”  
Sara got up and gently kissed the top of his head before leaving the kitchen and finishing to get ready for work. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Michael? Wake up.”  
Michael opened one eye, then the other, and saw Sara’s face above him. He had fallen asleep on the couch. He blinked a few times and sat down with Sara’s help.   
“What time is it?”  
“Almost 6:00 pm. How are you feeling?”  
“Like I’m going to die!”  
“Now you’re exaggerating”, she replied with a condescending smile on her lips.  
“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I’m going to die of boredom!”  
“Oh”, was all Sara said, realizing that Michael wasn’t referring to the pain but to the indirect consequence of his injuries: being forced to inactivity.   
“I tried to read but holding a book was more challenging than expected. I also tried to use my computer but with my right hand like this, controlling the keypad is nearly impossible. And that’s without mentioning how uncomfortable it is to sit with the computer on my lap.” He groaned in frustration.  
Sara remained silent a little while until she decided what the best course of action was. She left Michael’s side and walked towards the bedroom. She stopped suddenly, looking over her shoulder: “Come on, we’re going to my place.”   
Michael narrowed his gaze. “What? Why?”  
“We are going to my place”, she repeated. “I have a television and a tablet and you can easily operate both with one hand. Plus, I’m working all week and you are not so it makes more sense that we go to my apartment anyway. You can’t stay here all by yourself all week. It’s more practical, really. Let’s go!”  
“I love it when you’re in charge, Dr. Tancredi!”  
Sara rolled her eyes and moved to the bedroom where she picked a duffle bag and started to put clothes in it.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Four hours later, Michael was lying in bed with a goofy grin on his face.   
“What are you smiling about?” Sara inquired, involuntarily reciprocating his smile.  
“It’s Monday night and I’m in your bed”, he replied while his grin got bigger. Since they had started dating Michael and Sara had rarely spent time together during the week. As a result, being in Sara’s bed on a Monday night was enough for Michael to fill him with happiness, hence the grin.   
Sara shook her head. After long negotiations, Michael had eventually agreed to take his night medication. That was 20 minutes earlier. It had clearly kicked in. “You’re cute when you’re high!”  
“I may be cute but you are beautiful, especially in your sleeping attire”, he retorted, eyeing Sara up and down and appreciating what her short shorts and tee-shirt didn’t conceal. Then, in a whisper, as if he was about to disclose an important secret that only Sara was allowed to hear, he added: “But I prefer when you wear absolutely nothing.”   
“Oh boy! Cute and very honest…”  
“So, Dr. Tancredi… What about that supposedly infallible treatment against bad dreams?”  
Of course, the pills hadn’t affected Michael’s excellent memory, Sara thought. Now was the time to deliver on her promise… She crawled on the bed and supported herself on her right elbow next to Michael. She gently cupped his face with her left hand before closing the distance that separated them to press her lips against his. The kiss was chaste at first, just lips on lips, but it soon became more than that when their lips parted and they let their tongues play with each other. Sara was the one who put a halt to it when she remembered that Michael needed to rest and that certain types of activities were prohibited, at least for now. She heard him moan, unsure if it was because she had stopped or because Michael was in pain.  
“Are you okay?” she asked.  
“Never better”, he declared with sleepy eyes.  
“Sweet dreams, Michael.” She gave him another kiss on the lips, a short one that time, and got herself comfortable under the sheets.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Tuesday, July 11th 

 

Another day and another morning when Michael joined Sara in the kitchen. She was finishing her breakfast: oatmeal with a side of banana.   
“Good morning, handsome”, she greeted him with a smile.  
“Good morning, beautiful”, he replied, taking a seat next to her at the table.  
“How did you sleep?”  
“Very well, thank you!”  
“No bad dreams I assume?”  
“No.”  
“Any good ones?”  
“As a matter of fact, yes…”  
“Are you going to tell me or do I need to beg you?”  
Michael smiled. “Well, we were on a beach…”  
“It’s always a good start! Costa Rica?”  
“I don’t think so… Florida maybe?”  
“Making out again?!”  
Michael started to laugh but the pain in his ribs quickly put an end to it. “No”, he answered, smiling at Sara. “But there was kissing involved!”  
Sara hummed. “Of course, there was!” She smiled too. “So, what were we doing? Kissing and walking hand in hand on the beach?”  
“Something like that”, Michael enigmatically replied.   
“And you’re not going to reveal more?”  
Could he reveal that they were not just “kissing and walking” like Sara had suggested but that they were actually getting married? He decided against it and opted for a less emotionally charged part of the dream. “If you want to know more, know that you were wearing a gorgeous Summer dress. Red, black and gold, I believe. Your hair was down. You looked beautiful!”  
“Wow”, she said. “Some kind of dream, huh?”  
You have no idea, he thought to himself. “Yep”, he replied instead.   
“Well, not to sound too cocky but my remedy against bad dreams seemed to have worked…”  
“I must admit that it wasn’t certain about your very individualized and controversial treatment. I guess we’re going to have to repeat it tonight, just to make sure!”  
“I guess so”, she replied with a smile on her lips.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“I hope Chinese is okay, Michael”, Sam asked.  
“Perfect, thanks. But I won’t be using chop sticks today if you don’t mind!” Michael raised his cast in the air.  
“It would have been good to be left handed, huh?”  
“Yes, but unfortunately I’m not…” He smiled. “Thanks for bringing lunch today. And thanks for the company too.”  
“It’s my pleasure, Michael.”  
For the hour that Sam spent at Sara’s apartment, they chatted about Michael’s injuries, about their respective upcoming vacations and, obviously, about Sara and Anna. When Sam left, Michael felt more optimistic that he was going to survive the week. He had been reluctant initially when Sara had told him that Sam had offered to visit him. He didn’t need a baby-sitter, he had argued. Sara had worked hard to convince him and he was glad she had made him change his mind. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Wednesday, July 12th 

 

“What did you dream about last night, Michael?”  
“I dreamt that I was making French toasts for you.”  
“For me? Oh, that’s so sweet, Michael!”  
Michael smiled, almost embarrassed. If he was hesitant to reveal the entire content of his dream the night before, there was no way that he would tell Sara what exactly happened in his most recent dream. After dreaming that they got married, he had dreamt that he was not only making French toasts for Sara but also for their kids. THEIR KIDS! How many were they? Three? Four? Michael wasn’t even sure himself. These drugs were really affecting his dreams. On the one hand, with Sara’s “special treatment”, he didn’t seem to have nightmares anymore so that was a plus. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure if he could take additional dreams that depicted a possible future with Sara. Not when they felt so real. What would he dream about next? Their grand children?! 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Hey Michael, what have you been up to?” Anna asked as she just arrived with bags of food from a nearby restaurant that specialized in Thai cuisine.  
“Oh, you know, getting familiar with daytime television and realizing how much I’ve been missing all this time!”  
“No kidding! So, what’s your new favorite tv show?”  
“I think I need more time to get a proper opinion on the matter”, he joked.  
“Please keep me updated once you have one”, Anna chuckled.  
“I will!”  
“I didn’t know you would be so engrossed in watching tv and I thought that maybe you needed something to distract you, or maybe help you fall asleep, so I brought you something…”  
“You mean, besides the delicious food here?” Michael was already salivating while trying to open the food containers with one hand and two fingers.   
Anna opened her large purse and took a book from it. “Sorry about the shameless self-promotion…”  
Michael looked at the book and realized that the author was none other than the person in front of him, Anna, also known as Dr. Anna Philips! It was an academic work about Tolstoy, Anna’s speciality.  
“Thanks! This will certainly distract me! Can I have your autograph?!”  
“Don’t push it, Michael!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Thursday, July 13th 

 

“I’m sorry, Sara.”  
“About what?” Sara was next to Michael on the bed, supporting her upper body on her right elbow and resting her head on her right hand, while Michael was lying on his back, his head turned in Sara’s direction.  
“I had envisioned all this stuff that I wanted us to do in Costa Rica and now we won’t be able to do any of it and I’m sorry that it won’t be what we had initially planned.”  
“We’re going to spend two weeks together in Costa Rica, living in a house that is on the beach: that’s exactly what we had initially planned and what we’re going to do”, Sara replied firmly, while squeezing his arm lightly.   
Michael smiled unconvincingly. “I’m just frustrated, I guess. Not being able to do things because of my ribs and my hand… Not being capable of more than kissing you… Do you know when we’ll be able to resume our “extra-curricular activities” by the way? Please don’t tell me we’re going to have to wait for as long as the cast will stay on. I don’t think I can survive another three weeks of abstinence!” Michael finished in a whiny voice that made Sara smiled.  
“Michael, as much as I enjoy when we make love (and don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it a lot), you and I both know that our relationship is based on more than just sex. You have to be patient. You need to heal more first, at least another week. And you need to trust me and not try anything before I give you the green light, okay?”  
“Yeah”, Michael agreed reluctantly. 

“You know what? I think you’re tired because you didn’t sleep well. You should have taken the strong painkillers last night.”  
Michael shrugged. “I just wanted to sleep without having crazy dreams and it worked.”  
“Would a goodnight kiss help?”  
A genuine smile appeared on Michael’s lips instantly. “It wouldn’t hurt to try!”  
“Prepare yourself for the best goodnight kiss you’ve ever received!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Friday, July 14th 

 

“Hey Marc! Sorry that you got recruited by Sara to baby-sit me.”  
“Well, she said you could use some company… I’m pretty sure I’m not your first choice but as I understood your brother is already in Costa Rica and your friend Fernando is out of town too?”  
“Yeah, he’s in Puerto Rico with his family. And I appreciate your visit, Marc.”  
“No problem! I would go crazy if I had to stay home doing nothing.”  
“I’m disappointed that I won’t get to volunteer in that school when we get to Costa Rica but, frankly, what I find the most difficult is having the impression that I’m letting Sara down.”   
“Michael, I can guarantee you that you are not letting Sara down in any way, shape or form. Did you know that we went on vacation together a few years ago when she joined me on a trip to Key West?” Michael shook his head. Sara had never mentioned it. “We mostly spent our trip by the pool of our hotel, Sara content with just reading a book and going for a swim to cool down from time to time.” Michael’s mind was quick to imagine Sara lounging by the pool. He smiled without realizing it but it didn’t go unnoticed by Marc. “Stop picturing Sara in a bikini, Michael”, Marc admonished him. Before Michael could defend himself, with what he wasn’t sure because that was exactly what he was doing, Marc continued: “We had a great time doing absolutely nothing! At night, we would go to different clubs, gay clubs, and while we were there for me, Sara was the one who attracted all the attention. Women kept offering her drinks and I wouldn’t even get noticed. That was insane!”  
Michael laughed out loud at the image of Sara being hit on by women in Key West but stopped abruptly when the pain in his ribs reminded him that laughing wasn’t such a good idea. “Ouch”, he groaned. “Please don’t make me laugh, Marc.”  
“Sorry about that! What I was trying to say is that I’m sure Sara will be happy taking long walks on the beach or simply enjoying the view from your house. There’s no need to be drowning in self-pity!”  
“Thanks for the pep talk, Marc.”  
“Any time, Michael.”


	27. Costa Rica!

Saturday, July 15th

 

Three hours into their flight to Costa Rica, Michael started to feel uncomfortable in his seat. His ribs were not agreeing with flying economy. He tried shifting positions but the discomfort only increased, soon to be replaced by sharp pain. Michael resolutely refused at first but Sara insisted and he finally accepted the pills that she offered him. He swallowed them with one big gulp of water and 15 minutes later Sara saw him relax next to her. She sighed in relief, knowing that the pain must have been truly bad for Michael to take the painkillers with morphine (which she had taken in her purse against Michael’s wishes). She checked the flight information on the screen in front of her and hoped that the effect would last long enough for them to arrive in Costa Rica.

 

It turned out that there was no need for Sara to worry because, when they landed, Michael was still undeniably under the medication’s influence…  
“Sara, you have no idea how happy I am that you’re here with me in Costa Rica!”  
“Oh, Michael, I know. Believe me, I know. It’s the third time you’ve said something to that effect in the last 10 minutes…”  
“Oops! Well, I really mean it!”  
Sara smiled. Yep, Michael always tended to react strongly to morphine and that time was no exception...  
Michael’s voice interrupted her thoughts: “Oh no, we forgot the kiss! I can’t take these meds without you kissing me, Sara! Who knows what could happen then…”  
“You’ll be fine, Michael”, Sara replied decisively.  
But Michael had already something else on his mind: “Hey Sara”, he said with a very serious expression on his face, “do you think we’ll be able to have sex again one day?” Sara sensed several pairs of eyes zooming on the two of them. Michael, in his less than inhibited state, had talked in a normal voice and his words had been heard very clearly by the people surrounding them, while they were all waiting to exit the plane. Sara inhaled deeply, feeling her cheeks redden in embarrassment. She was doing her best to avoid everyone’s gaze when Michael spoke again. “Don’t be ashamed! Having an active sex life is part of a healthy relationship.” He looked around him as if he was seeking approval for his statement.  
Sara shook her head. “Please excuse him”, she said to no one in particular, “he took strong painkillers a couple of hours ago and now he’s saying things he shouldn’t say in public…”  
“Come on, Sara! You’re a doctor, you should be used to having these kinds of conversations! You never answered me: when do you think we’ll be able to resume our very active sex life? I hope it won’t be too long because it’s only been two weeks and let me tell you, it’s pure torture!”  
“Michael, you know I love you but right now, I wish you just stopped talking…”  
Michael simply smiled his most handsome smile and Sara couldn’t help but smile in return, despite repeating very loudly in her head “please shut up, Michael!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Going through customs with a drugged Michael made Sara nervous but they surprisingly made it without any incidents. Once they had recovered their luggage on the carrousel they walked across the airport where they easily spotted Lincoln outside, checking his cell phone.  
“Brother!” Michael said, while giving him a half-hug with his uninjured side. He patted him on the shoulder and added: “Wow, started surfing again, huh? Looking good, Linc!”  
Lincoln frowned upon hearing Michael’s words. He narrowed his gaze on Sara who was now in front of him, Michael no longer there as he had continued towards the parking.  
“What’s going on, Sara? Is he drunk or something?”  
“High on painkillers”, she clarified.  
“Ha!”  
Sara nodded with an exaggerated look of despair on her face.  
They’ve been driving for about 30 minutes when Lincoln and Sara heard Michael groan in the back. “I’m not feeling so well”, he said in a tired voice.  
“It’s the medication, Michael. You usually sleep it off”, Sara explained.  
“We’re almost there, Michael, hang on five more minutes”, Lincoln offered.  
As soon as they arrived at Michael’s house, Michael quickly exited the car and went straight to bed without saying a word. Sara promised Lincoln that she was going to keep an eye on his brother (as if she wasn’t going to do so anyway!). Grateful, Lincoln thanked Sara for having taken care of him since he got injured. He had almost flown to Chicago when he had learned what had happened to Michael and it had taken all his brother’s persuasion skills (and Sara’s medical license) to keep him in Costa Rica. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Monday, July 18th 

 

Maddie couldn’t hide the shock on her face when Michael opened the door to his house.  
“That bad, huh? And here I thought I looked better now without the stiches on my forehead. Sara removed them this morning.”  
“I’m sorry, Michael. I’m just surprised, that’s all. How are you feeling?” Maddie was the woman Sofia and his brother had unsuccessfully tried to set him up with. They never “clicked” as a couple but eventually became friends despite their awkward initial blind date.  
“I’ve been better but it’s improving. Too slowly for my taste but I was told I needed to be patient…”  
“I understand. I must say, I’m quite disappointed Sara’s not here. I was looking forward to meeting her!”  
“Well, she’s at the clinic. She had committed to volunteering there this week two months ago and she offered to cancel but I sent her anyway.”  
Maddie immediately noticed Michael’s smile when he first mentioned Sara. It was a smile that she had never seen on his face before. “I was starting to think that you had given up on dating altogether!” Michael scoffed at her playful banter. “Tell me about her. I want to know everything!” While they never missed an opportunity to meet when Michael was in Costa Rica, they were not very good at keeping in contact the rest of the year, which meant that Maddie knew very little about the recent developments in Michael’s love life, or about his girlfriend.  
“I’m not going to tell you everything. You know that, Maddie, right?”  
She rolled her eyes. “Not everything, everything but I want the important details. Like what’s her last name, how you met. Was it another set-up?”  
Michael shook his head. “No!”  
“Wait a second… Did you finally decide to give Tinder a try?!”  
“NO! No, no, no. Nothing like that.”  
“How did you meet then?”  
“We… just met.”  
“What? You bumped into each other or something?”  
“No, we did not. We were simply in line together at Starbucks and started talking.”  
Maddie hummed. “Starbucks: okay… And it was just love at first sight?!” Maddie was in a teasing mood.  
Michael didn’t answer her but the light blush that crept on his cheeks spoke for himself. She took pity on him and decided not to push further. “So, does she have a last name, your Sara?”  
Michael inhaled slowly, getting ready for what he was sure was about to unfold. Before moving to Costa Rica to teach English as a second language, Maddie lived in Chicago and he knew that she was following the news coming from Illinois with a keen interest. “Tancredi”, he simply supplied.  
“Tancredi like the Governor?” Michael nodded. “She’s not related, is she?” When Michael didn’t respond, she started to laugh. “Don’t tell me you’re dating the Governor’s daughter!”  
“The one and only!” Michael laughed with her, not because dating Frank Tancredi’s daughter was funny in itself but because he got a similar reaction of disbelief every time someone else learned about his relationship with Sara Tancredi.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“So, what are you doing this week, alone and forced to rest, beside playing doctor with Sara?” Maddie asked an hour later.  
Michael gave her a pointed look and chose to focus on the first part of her question. “Well, nothing too exciting… Just enjoying the sea breeze and working on my tan, that’s all.”  
“Well, have fun, Michael, and don’t stay in the sun for too long!”  
“Yes, Mother!”  
“Ha ha ha, very funny! I’ll see you on Friday.”  
“Yeah, see you on Friday. I can’t wait to meet your boyfriend!”  
It was Maddie’s turn to smile, thinking about her boyfriend of two months. She wasn’t sure yet if they were in it for the long haul but she was happy with how things were progressing so far in their relationship.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Friday, July 21st 

 

Two weeks after that dreadful encounter in a convenience store, Michael was finally starting to feel better. His ribs were still bothering him but not as much. He could almost forget they were not completely healed when he avoided certain movements. The cast on his right hand was more annoying than anything else at that point but he had learned to do things with only seven fingers so he wasn’t as miserable as he had been initially. It was difficult at first but he was now able to prepare meals for them and he felt very domesticated, doing simple chores at home and patiently waiting for his beautiful girlfriend to come back from work. Being on “house arrest” as he called it wasn’t so bad knowing that Sara was coming back to him at the end of each day. Sara’s presence made him happy, it was that simple. The fact that the pain was lessening and that they were going to spend the rest of their stay in Costa Rica together added to his current state of optimism. On that particular day, they didn’t have anything to prepare for supper though as they were invited by Lincoln and Sofia for a little get together with Maddie and her boyfriend Jake. Expecting Sara’s arrival shortly, Michael decided to go and relax on the beach. He figured that they could appreciate the fantastic view before getting ready for their evening out at his brother’s house.

 

It had been a busy week at the clinic for Sara, but it had been rewarding to know that for five days she was there to help local physicians and nurses attend to the population’s various medical needs. She spotted Michael lounging on the beach when she arrived home. Home. It’s what it had felt for her all week. Since Michael had been injured, Sara had looked forward to returning to Michael and share her most difficult or unusual cases with him. Their new routine had naturally continued in Costa Rica with the only difference that she was now returning to a beach house, instead of an apartment in a trendy Chicagoan neighborhood. Michael’s injuries had “forced” them to spend more time together than usual but instead of putting a strain on their relationship, they had strengthened the bond that already existed between them. Sara left her bag in the house and quickly joined Michael on the beach, where, for about 15 minutes, mostly in silence, she enjoyed his company and the picturesque Costa Rican landscape. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara exited the shower with a towel wrapped around her when Michael was finishing to brush his teeth. For a second she admired her boyfriend, only wearing shorts that hung low on his hips, and smiled. He looked at her and smiled back.  
“Are you trying to rival Lincoln with your beard, Michael? I hate to break it to you but you’re not going to win…”  
Michael laughed and shook his head. “Oh, I know that I don’t stand a chance against him!”  
Sara stood next to him and caressed his jaw with her fingers. “You not shaving, is it by choice or is it because of your hand? Because I could help you if that’s the latter.”  
“Are you offering your services, Miss Tancredi?” Michael asked teasingly.  
“I am”, she replied without breaking eye contact with him.  
“And are you planning on using my electric razor in this outfit?” Michael pointed at her towel clad body and crooked one eyebrow.  
“Do you mind?”  
Michael took the razor from the drawer and handed it to Sara. “By all means.”  
Sara moved in front of Michael, her back against the bathroom counter, and started. It didn’t take her long to complete her task and she looked at the end result proudly. Michael briefly glanced at his reflection in the mirror but preferred to continue focussing on Sara and on her body that he found so attractive. He had remained immobile during Sara’s work but now that it was done, he lifted his left hand up to touch her collarbone softly, then let his fingers trail lower, stopping just above her breasts and the top of the towel. The goosebumps that immediately appeared on her delicate skin made him look up and lock eyes with her. He pressed his body against her and noticed that her breathing had accelerated. The scent of her shampoo was intoxicating and he couldn’t resist anymore. He captured her lips in a hungry kiss, putting his left arm on her back and using his hand to hold her close. Sara instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, moaning at the sensations that were over stimulating her: the smell and taste of his toothpaste, the smoothness of the skin on his face, the strength of his upper body and the warmth of his lips. Sara moved to sit on the counter and they continued kissing until Sara suddenly gently pushed him. “Are you okay?” she asked. Michael’s face was flushed and he seemed confused by the interruption. “I mean, your ribs… Are you alright in this position?” The position Sara was referring to was her sitting on the bathroom counter, Michael standing in front of her, one leg between her knees.  
His lips were parted and he swallowed before answering. “My ribs are good”, he said, a little out of breath. Sara cupped his face with her hands and pulled him for another passionate kiss that left them panting when they eventually stopped for some much-needed air. She licked her lips and, without saying a word, she slowly untied the towel that was still wrapped around her. Michael’s eyes were burning with desire when he admired her completely naked body. Sara, his girlfriend, the woman of his dreams, and not in the figurative sense of the expression, was offering herself to him. He was only able to articulate a low “God, Sara” before crashing his lips on hers once again. What happened next is a mix of love and lust that, combined with a sense of urgency, finally allowed them to connect in the most intimate way after weeks of forced distance. It was fast and a bit clumsy but it was exactly what they both needed at the time.  
They were still breathing hard when Sara felt Michael chuckle in the crook of her neck. A short while later she heard him mumble: “I think that you need another shower.”  
Sara laughed out loud. “You’re right but don’t think you’re going to get lucky again, Mister Scofield!”  
“You’re no fun, Miss Tancredi!”  
“I’m sorry but I wouldn’t want you to worsen your injuries, especially now that you seem to be recovering…”  
“Fine, Doc. But we’ll have to revisit this conversation one day.”  
“One day.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“You look much better than on Monday, Michael”, Maddie stated after a quick examination.  
“Thanks Maddie”, Michael answered back.  
“Must be because he finally decided to shave”, Lincoln interjected. “Thank god! It was an embarrassment to all the men who can actually grow a beard.”  
“Well, you should thank Sara because she’s the one who helped me shave”, Michael replied, grinning.  
“Oh, we don’t want to know what you two did in your bathroom before joining us here!”  
Sara’s eyes widened in surprise. How could Lincoln know?! It wasn’t like it was written all over her face, was it? Unless it was written on Michael’s face? The smile that was currently plastered on his face was probably all Lincoln had needed to draw that conclusion. Or maybe it had nothing to do with them and it was just Lincoln being Lincoln.  
Michael saved Sara from her embarrassing thoughts: “Sara told me that I’d better shave because I couldn’t compete with you. I guess you both agree.”  
Sofia decided to participate in the discussion: “To compete with Linc, you would need the tattoos to go with the beard…”  
“Maybe he has tattoos and you don’t know it”, Sara stated with a hint of tease in her voice. “Maybe he has “I love Sara” tattooed somewhere hidden…”  
“Ha ha ha, I like you, Sara!” Maddie declared genuinely.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“You know, last time Lincoln prepared burgers here, it was last Summer”, Sofia started, smiling at the memory. “It was the beginning of my pregnancy and I asked him to throw all the bacon away because I couldn’t stand the smell of cooked bacon!”  
Everyone laughed, even Lincoln, and Michael’s gaze fell on Sara who had his niece peacefully sleeping in her arms. The sight made his heart grow in his chest and he couldn’t help but get up and join her to give her a soft kiss on the lips.  
“I remember that”, Maddie said. “You said something like morning sickness is a myth, it should be called all-day sickness!”  
“Gosh, that was bad.”  
“Yeah”, Lincoln added, “very bad. And the worst was that it would happen at the most inopportune moments, without warning.”  
Michael made a face, pretending to be horrified, and Sara chuckled quietly, making sure that she didn’t disturb the baby still oblivious to the conversation and activity around her.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael and Sara walked back home hand in hand. Michael’s house was far enough from Lincoln’s to grant him and Sara privacy, yet close enough that they could walk between the two if they wanted to.  
“A storm is coming”, Michael claimed when they had almost reached their destination. It was impossible not to notice the menacing clouds that were filling the sky rapidly and the gusts of wind blowing intermittently since they had left Lincoln and the others. After a week of blue sky and beautiful sunshine, it appeared that the weather was about to change. They quickened their pace and made it before the rain started. Sara opened her large purse to grab the key but before she could open the front door she felt Michael’s body pressing against her back. His left hand instantly found its way to her stomach and then slowly moved higher. Sara closed her eyes and sighed when Michael softly caressed her left breast, using the fabric of her bra to create just enough friction to light a small fire in her body immediately.  
“I want you so much right now, Sara”, Michael whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.  
Sara’s breathing accelerated and her head fell back on Michael’s shoulder. “I want you too, Michael”, she replied before turning her head to kiss him on the neck. She unlocked the door blindly and they were barely inside that Michael had Sara pinned against the adjacent wall, his lips attacking hers desperately.  
“I don’t think I can wait till we get to the bedroom”, Michael confessed.  
“The bed might not be the best idea”, Sara started before kissing him passionately. “Your ribs” was all the explication she gave him.  
“Bathroom?” Michael asked then.  
“No”, she answered, gasping when Michael’s fingers moved above her panties. “Kitchen?” she suggested instead with a shaky voice.  
Michael didn’t answer but directed them to the kitchen, his lips on hers once again. Sara positioned herself on the counter between the sink and the fridge and started to unbutton Michael’s shirt, while he focused on removing her panties, silently thanking Sara for choosing to wear a skirt earlier. She then quickly got rid of his jeans and underwear and they were finally able to succumb to the desire that had built up all evening. It wasn’t long before they were both sent over the edge.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Saturday, July 22nd 

 

Michael woke up to an empty bed and the rhythmic sound of rain. He found Sara comfortably sitting on the couch in the living room, a mug of tea in one hand, turning pages of a magazine with the other.  
“Hey”, Sara greeted him. “As you can see, it’s a beautiful morning”, she said sarcastically.  
Michael looked outside and saw a heavy rain hitting the windows. But what grabbed his attention though wasn’t the storm that he had predicted the night before. What grabbed his attention was something that Sara had just said and that reminded him of his latest dream. A word: “morning”. He seemed so lost in thought that Sara was concerned for a second. “Are you okay, Michael?” When he didn’t respond, Sara repeated her question.  
“Yes, I’m okay. Sorry. I just… I had a dream last night and...”  
“Let me guess”, Sara cut him, smiling, “we were kissing or about to eat breakfast!”  
Michael chuckled. “We were kissing… Well, we were more than just kissing…”  
“Nice! Here in Costa Rica?”  
“No. Believe it or not, we were on a train.”  
“A train?! Why were we even on a train?! You slept well enough that you had time to dream we were on a train while I hardly slept with the noise the rain made all night!”  
“Maybe the sound of the rain became the sound of the train on the rail tracks in my dream”, he pondered out loud.  
“Where were we going to anyway?”  
“I think we were going to Chicago”, he responded, shrugging his shoulders.  
“Please tell me we were not making out in front of everyone on the train!” She shook her head at the idea.  
“Oh no, don’t worry! We were not making out in front of everyone. We were actually locked in a bathroom.”  
Sara’s eyes widened. “Okay… And since we were locked in a bathroom, did we go any further than making out?” She looked at him suggestively at the end of her question.  
Michael laughed quietly. “Actually, no. But probably only because we were interrupted.”  
“By what?”  
“Well… If you want to know everything, you got sick.”  
“Sick? As in I threw up?!” Michael nodded and Sara suddenly had a disgusted expression on her face. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for interrupting our “moment”!” She smiled at Michael. “Bad sushi?”  
“More like… morning sickness.”  
“Morning sickness? MORNING SICKNESS?!” Michael pursed his lips and lifted his eyebrows in apology. “Wow! Michael, you have the craziest dreams!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

For their second week in Costa Rica, Michael and Sara visited some of the most popular touristic attractions. Since Michael couldn’t shift gears with his cast, Sara was the one who, following Michael’s directions, drove them everywhere. To Sara’s delight, they also went off the beaten path on several occasions and it was always magical. Michael couldn’t do everything he wanted because of his injuries but they ended up having a wonderful time regardless. For their last full day in Costa Rica, Lincoln and LJ took them for a boat ride. They spent the afternoon on a small deserted island, admiring the untouched landscape and relaxing while father and son went fishing. Lincoln drove them home later that evening and Sara went directly to the bathroom for a much-needed shower, ready to get rid of the sweat, sand, salted sea water and sunscreen that had accumulated after hours under the sun. Michael went to wash up after Sara and was surprised to find the house empty when he had finished. He frowned as he saw a small paper airplane on their bed. He took it in his hand, unsure what to think of it. If Michael was an origami master, Sara was not. Michael had tried to teach her the art of origami but her limited skills had almost always turned her efforts into disasters of missed steps and unsuccessful folding attempts. As a result, the existence of the paper plane that was currently in Michael’s hand, the very nice paper plane, was shocking. Michael turned it in his hands before unfolding it to reveal a single word, “BEACH”, and a small heart. He smiled and looked through the window. What was Sara up to?

 

He found her contentedly lying on a blanket next to a large coconut tree. He showed her the paper plane and questioned her with his eyes.  
“I thought we could do something special for our last night here”, she explained, smiling, while inviting him under the blanket that she had wrapped around her.  
His response was to join her on the improvised bed and to put his left arm around her so that they were as close to each other as possible. They stayed silent for a few minutes, simply staring at the stars in the sky. Sara spoke eventually: “I’m happy right now.”  
“So am I”, he replied. “I’m glad you came.”  
“Thanks for inviting me”, she said. They locked eyes for a couple of seconds before Sara leaned in and pressed her lips against Michael’s for a short kiss. “I have a confession to make”, she started, feeling shy suddenly and chuckling quietly at what she was about to admit. “Since the first dinner at your place when we talked about your house here, I’ve hoped that you would be bring me here and here we are…”  
“Here we are”, he repeated. He couldn’t help but smile at the idea of Sara being nervous about his reaction to her statement. “I wanted to invite you as soon as I spoke to you about it. I was afraid I would come out too strong if I did though!” Sara laughed out loud and Michael was reminded that Sara’s laugh was one of his favorite sounds in the entire world. He loved her so much that it sometimes felt overwhelming. He turned his head to capture her lips in a passionate kiss that was meant to express what he was reluctant to say with words. When Michael broke the kiss, Sara’s lips were parted, her eyes slow to open. “Any other confessions?!” Michael asked teasingly.  
“One actually”, she began, turning on her side and supporting her weight on her right elbow. “I want you to make love to me.”  
Michael’s eyes widened for a second and his heart started to beat faster. “Aren’t you full of surprises tonight, Miss Tancredi?”  
“I learned from the best, Mister Scofield!”


	28. Chicago

Sunday, July 23rd 

 

Much to Michael’s relief, the flight back was considerably more pleasant than the one bringing them to Costa Rica. However, as soon as they landed, an unsettling feeling engulfed him. Seeing no apparent reason for his current emotional state, he shrugged it off and grabbed his bag before exiting the plane, determined to enjoy the rest of his day with Sara. They drove first to her apartment with Lincoln’s truck that he had left them for the Summer while he was gone. Sara took a change of clothes for the next day and they then went to Michael’s place where they planned on spending the night before going to work the next day. She helped him unpack and start a wash before they crashed on the couch with take-out from a nearby restaurant. Michael suggested that they watched something on his computer and they settled for a tv show, Sara unwilling to stay up too late as she was tired and had a busy week ahead of her at the hospital. It was a comedy and it helped him relax a little but it was only temporary. He went to bed with a knot in his stomach and didn’t sleep well that night, which was surprising because he usually slept well when Sara was sharing a bed with him. 

 

Sara was tired in the best possible way. Yes, their last night in Costa Rica had not been very restful but she wasn’t going to complain about it. Far from it. They had woken up on the beach very early and had quickly moved back inside the house, fearing they might be found by morning joggers, and considering their state of undress, what they had been doing on the beach would have been as clear as the Costa Rican sky on a beautiful Summer day. They were able to catch some sleep, in a bed, before getting up to leave for the airport a few hours later. So yes, she was tired but also happy. So happy. Ridiculously happy. The two weeks that she had spent with Michael in Costa Rica had been a blast. The sea side was amazing, the volcanos magnificent and the biodiversity mind blowing. What also contributed to how perfect their vacation had been was living in a beach house which, despite Michael’s claims, had everything they needed, and more. And that was without counting Michael himself, the main reason why she had a great time and, obviously, the reason why she had been there in the first place. Injured or not, he never failed to show her how much he loved her but now that he was even more on the road to recovery, well, let’s just say that he had more ways to show her how much he loved her… 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

The next morning, Michael insisted on going to the hospital with Sara. It would be his first day back at work since his injuries and he wasn’t needed as early as Sara. But the real reason was that he wanted to spend a little more time with her before parting for a few days. They took the bus, then walked towards the hospital. Since they had left the apartment, Michael had seemed off. Sara had noticed that he didn’t seem in a good mood as soon as they woke up but didn’t think much of it at first. She simply thought that he was reluctant to go back to work after being off for three weeks. Then, she remarked that he barely talked on their trip to the hospital, only answering minimally to her questions. She started to really wonder what was going on with him when she also realized that he was avoiding her gaze and that he hadn’t taken her hand in his when they got off the bus, something he would normally do when they were together on a sidewalk. Sara stopped a few feet away from the main entrance and turned around. “Thanks for walking with me, Michael”, she said, scrutinizing his face. She was now facing Michael who had not looked at her in the eye yet. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird all morning…”  
“I’m fine”, he mumbled rather unconvincingly.  
“Are you?” she inquired again.  
Michael glanced up and they locked eyes for a second before Michael exhaled loudly and decided to open up about what was bothering him. “You know what, I’m not okay.” Seeing Sara’s concerned look, he quickly added: “I mean, physically, I’m okay. Well, besides my hand here.” He pointed at his cast with his left hand. “But I don’t feel okay. It’s just that… I know that we spent a whole week together in Chicago only because I was injured but it was a wonderful week, and not because I was high on drugs most of the time.” Michael didn’t even smile at his own joke but Sara did, not that he saw it, his gaze too focused on his shoes instead. He needed to say what he had on his chest and he wasn’t done yet. “We spent two weeks in Costa Rica and it was the best vacation ever. Seriously. And now, we’re going back to work and tonight to our own apartments and I don’t like it. I’m probably going to sound more like a needy boyfriend than someone who is in love with you right now but I want us to live together. There, I said it.” He exhaled loudly and looked up at Sara, his eyes finally meeting hers. “Sara, I love you and I want to share my life with you. Not because I’m injured and you need to take care of me. I want to see you every morning before leaving for work, I want to cook for you when we get back and I want to fall asleep with you every night.” When he finished his tirade, he found her staring at him, visibly too stunned to say anything. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t planned any of this. I’m aware it’s not a good time to be having this conversation and I’m not expecting you to say anything right now. It’s not something that we should decide on a whim before going to work but please, tell me that you’re going to at least consider it.”  
Before Sara could even consider her response, any response, they were disturbed by a cheery voice. “Sara, you’re back! It’s about time!” Katie, the head nurse, had missed Sara and her presence in the E.R. while she was away and she didn’t hesitate to let her know. Sara’s quiet personality and dark sense of humour had made her Katie’s favorite among the E.R.’s physicians and, as a result, it had been long without Sara for two weeks.  
Sara briefly locked eyes with Michael, silently apologizing for the interruption. “Katie! Did you really miss me or were the other doctors particularly annoying?”  
“Both, Sara, both.” Acknowledging Michael’s presence, she then addressed him: “Hey Michael. Are you feeling better?”  
“Yes. Thank you.” He looked at Sara intently before adding. “Well, you should go. You don’t want to be late for your first day back!”  
Katie quietly excused herself and let the couple alone next to the main entrance.  
“My intentions are not to pressure you, Sara. Take your time to think about it. That’s all I’m asking, okay?” He saw Sara nod in approval. “We’re both going to be busy this week. Well, you more than me… I only have something planned tonight with Sucre. You have late shifts tomorrow and on Wednesday, and the interviews with your father for his campaign on Thursday. But don’t worry, I’m going to be okay. Even if I said that I wasn’t okay, I’m going to be okay. I’ll keep myself busy and I’ll see you here on Friday for my appointment.”  
Sara was still recovering from what had just happened. She never saw that coming! When she was able to find her voice, she confirmed that she would indeed see him on Friday. She promised to be in touch before they meet again and stole a kiss from him before leaving. She was aware that she had carefully avoided mentioning anything related to what Michael had so eloquently declared but she was not ready to have that conversation in front of her workplace, minutes from her first shift in more than two weeks. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Hey Sara, time for a quick lunch?”  
After a hectic morning, Katie’s offer wasn’t one she wanted to decline. “Yes! Let’s go before something bad happens and we’re summoned back here.”  
Fifteen minutes later, they were seated, eating their cafeteria meals with appetite. Katie had interrogated Sara about all the things that she had done while she was away and Sara had given her as many details as possible, knowing that her friend would pry otherwise.  
“It looks like it was amazing”, Katie concluded from Sara’s explanations.  
“It was”, Sara replied sincerely.  
“Then why are you looking like something’s bothering you?”  
“Nothing’s…” Sara’s sentence was cut short by Katie’s stern look, the one telling her that she wasn’t fooling anyone. “It’s nothing bad. Really. It’s just that… Michael told me he wanted to live with me.”  
“And?”  
“And what?”  
“I don’t know! Do you want to live with him?”  
“I haven’t thought about it before this morning!”  
“Oh, that’s what I interrupted?!” Sara nodded. “Oops! Sorry about that. So, if you think about it now, do you want to live with him? Based on his looks alone, I would say yes!”  
“Katie!” Sara admonished her colleague playfully.  
“I’m just stating the obvious. So, what’s the hold up?”  
What was the hold up indeed? Sara had some thinking to do and she was going to use that week to make sure that next time she had a conversation with Michael, she would be more articulate than she had been earlier that day.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“It seems like you had a fantastic time in Puerto Rico with your family, Sucre.” Fernando and Michael were at a Cubs game, enjoying the warm Summer evening and their hot dogs and beers.  
“Yep. A fantastic time! You? How was Costa Rica? How’s Sara? How’s Lincoln and the rest of the family?”  
“Costa Rica was great. Everyone is great.”  
“So, tell me, what’s wrong then?” Fernando Sucre didn’t always look like it but he was perceptive and Michael was his best friend so his troubled mood that evening hadn’t escaped him.  
Michael was silent for a second. “I told Sara I wanted us to live together.”  
“That’s huge, Papi! Congrats!”  
“Why are you congratulating me? She hasn’t said yes.”  
“Not yet maybe. But she will.” Seeing Michael’s dubious look, Fernando insisted: “Come on, Michael, Sara loves you. She is crazy about you. She’s going to say yes.”  
“I hope you’re right, my friend.”  
They returned to the game and shortly after the end, when Michael wasn’t paying attention, Fernando took a picture of him that he discreetly sent to Sara: “Poor Michael, brooding over the Cubs’ loss. Unless it’s the company that was not up to par… ;)”  
Sara received the message and smiled. Was it Fernando’s subtle way to tell her that Michael was missing her? Knowing the strong bond between the two men, she was certain that they had talked about Michael’s speech that morning. “Tell him that it’s just baseball and give him a kiss for me!”  
“Will do! Take care, Sara. See you soon!”  
Sara smiled again. Among all the people Sara had met since knowing Michael, Fernando was probably the one she felt the closest with. She particularly appreciated his jovial nature and his loyalty towards Michael. She was glad that Michael got to spend the evening with his best friend and not alone, mulling over the “bomb” that he had dropped on them. They wouldn’t have the chance to discuss the topic before Friday and she assumed that Michael would be on edge all week. Despite the fact that Michael wasn’t passionate about baseball, contrary to his friend Fernando, the Cubs game had probably been a welcomed distraction for him. She suddenly regretted being so busy that week. She was already missing her boyfriend.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Thursday, July 27th 

 

“I woke up this morning and you were in my bed”, Michael said in lieu of greeting when Sara answered his phone call.  
“I hope it’s okay that I joined you in the middle of the night”, she replied. On the spur of the moment, after her late shift at the hospital, she had decided to go to Michael’s place and not her own, using the key that he had given her to let herself in. With how they left things on Monday morning, they needed to talk, she knew it, but she also needed a good night of sleep and, even though she wouldn’t admit it to anyone but Michael, she slept better when she was sharing a bed with him. So instead of going back to her apartment and sleep in her own bed, alone, she had sneaked inside Michael’s apartment and quietly crawled in bed next to him, falling asleep in no time, lulled by the soothing rhythm of his regular breathing.  
Her unexpected visit was more than okay for him (surprising, yet definitely okay) but he didn’t address her concern directly: “I thought it was another of my dreams when I woke up but then I turned around and there you were.”  
Sara couldn’t see him but she knew that he was smiling and that made her smile in return. “You should have woken me up.”  
“I could have but you were snoring so peacefully”, he retorted playfully.  
“I was not!” Her voice was high-pitched in indignation.  
“No, you were not”, he chuckled. “But I figured you needed your beauty sleep after those late-night shifts at the hospital.”  
It was her turn to smile now. As much as she would have liked to see Michael before he left for work, she was grateful for the added hours of interrupted sleep that she gained in exchange. “Thanks”, she replied sincerely.  
“How is Washington?”  
“Good. Intense! They’re about to call me again. Any minute now.”  
“Okay. I’ll let you go then. I have to get back to work anyway.”  
“Okay. Love you.”  
“Love you too.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Friday, July 28th 

 

He had chosen to wear a pair of dark grey suit pants combined with a white shirt (the sleeves were rolled up because of his cast) and his favorite tie, the one that Sara had offered him, for good luck. Not good luck for his upcoming appointment at the hospital, but for the follow-up conversation that he would have with Sara, hopefully later that day. They had been in contact many times that week, either by phone or by text messages, but neither had brought up the topic initiated by Michael on Monday. He arrived 10 minutes before his scheduled time and waited for Sara to show up. He was looking forward to seeing his girlfriend. He had missed her a lot. He felt optimistic but also a little worried and it had nothing to do with the prospect of having the cast removed as well as new x-rays taken to make sure that his fingers were healed properly. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“So, what are you most looking forward to doing once you’re liberated from your cast?” The Orthopedics technician that Michael had been assigned to was a man in his late twenties who happened to be very chatty and who couldn’t stop asking questions. Michael had done his best answering him so far, Sara happy with just listening to the exchanges.  
Not expecting that question, Michael hesitated for a moment. He could definitely not tell him THE thing he was most looking forward to. Somehow, even without consulting with Sara, he knew that “being able to use both of my hands when making love to my girlfriend” was not an appropriate answer. He chuckled to himself while pondering his options. He eventually opted for a less compromising response: “I don’t know, take a proper shower or cook with two operational hands?”  
After 15 minutes of work with various tools, Michael was liberated from the cast on his right hand. He carefully moved his fingers and sighed in relief when he didn’t feel any pain. He grinned, then looked at Sara and shared her excitement. The cast was finally off! Their silent exchange was interrupted by the technician: “Did you sleep on a beach or something?”  
His question was innocent and only meant to be funny but Michael’s eyes grew wide in shock and Sara tried to cover her embarrassment by hiding behind her hair. Michael cleared his throat nervously and asked: “Why would you say that?”  
“Because it looks like there was sand inside your cast”, the employee replied, totally oblivious of how accurate he had been.  
“Oh, we… I spent two weeks in Costa Rica, living in a house on the beach so I guess that’s how sand got inside.”  
Sara purposefully avoided Michael’s gaze but couldn’t suppress her lips to curl up just a bit. Her presence with Michael was enough to let the technician know that they were a couple and that she was with him in Costa Rica. Sara suspected that the secretary earlier also connected the dots when she arrived when he was talking to the woman who, by the way, Sara thought, looked at Michael with obvious interest (no, she wasn’t jealous, maybe a little bit possessive, that was all). Given that her name tag revealed her patronym, she realized that more than Sam, Katie and Dr. Gomez would now be aware that the Governor’s daughter was dating a man who happened to be a former patient at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She wasn’t sure she liked the idea of becoming part of the hospital’s gossip mill. At the same time, she didn’t want to hide their relationship. She usually preferred to keep to herself but sometimes it was unavoidable. Ah well, she thought, at least it seemed that many women would be jealous of her!

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara was unfortunately required to stay at work longer than expected because of a multiple-car crash that brought a dozen of victims to the Emergency department. As a result, Michael left alone and considered what he could prepare for supper. He stopped first at their favorite gelato shop (he strongly believed that one could never get tired of ice cream) and then at the grocery store to buy some ingredients for his intended meal. Two hours after him, Sara finally arrived at Michael’s apartment. He felt a little nervous as he opened the door but he tried to sound normal when he said: “Dinner should be ready in about 10 minutes.”  
Sara followed him in the kitchen, slightly confused by his behavior. No kiss. No hug. Barely a smile to greet her. It was very unusual for Michael who was not opposed to displays of affection, especially when it was only the two of them. She immediately recognized that she needed to address the elephant in the room and put Michael out of his misery. “You cooked for me”, she said tenderly, while he appeared to be focused on what was going on in the oven.  
He replied nonchalantly, glancing at her over his shoulder: “It’s just pizza with a little salad.”  
Sara waited for him to turn around so that she would face him when she talked again. “You cooked for me”, she repeated, locking eyes with him and moving on her toes to kiss him softly on the lips.  
Michael frowned. “Yes, I cooked for you”, he replied, still unsure why it was such a big deal.  
Sara looked at him and smiled adoringly. “You said you wanted to cook for me and you did.”  
Finally understanding, Michael returned her smile. “I did.” He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him, stealing a kiss from her before she could speak again.  
“Okay”, she said.  
Michael’s head tilted to the side. “Okay?” He thought he knew what she meant but he needed to be sure. His eyes never left her while he waited for her answer.  
“You said that you wanted us to live together… Okay.”  
Michael’s jaw dropped. “Okay?!” he asked again, disbelief still evident in his voice. When Sara nodded, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight before releasing her to cup her cheeks with his hands and kiss her with all the passion that her response had elicited. “Wow! This is amazing!”  
Sara giggled at his enthusiasm and leaned in to press another kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Were you afraid I was going to say no?!”  
“I… I don’t know”, he stuttered. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to think.” He shrugged. In retrospect, it was probably irrational to think that Sara would react badly to his proposition of living together but it didn’t mean that he was 100% confident that she would say yes.  
“I will admit that I was surprised by your… request on Monday but then I thought about it and of course I want to live with you too. Why did you think I joined you at 1:00 am the other night?”  
“When you look at it like that…”  
“So, we’re good?”  
“We’re more than good. We’re excellent! And did you have time to think where you would want to live?” He didn’t wait for her response to brush his lips against her jaw, the action immediately sending shivers down her spine. Oh, the things he could do to her…  
“I love you but I don’t think I want to live here.”  
“That’s not a problem”, he said. The idea of living with Sara made him so happy that he didn’t care where they would live. To support his answer, he pressed his lips against hers in another ardent kiss.  
“The thing is that I don’t want us to live at my place either.”  
By that time, all Michael wanted to do was kiss his girlfriend (and maybe more if she let him…) but Sara kept talking so he had to reply. “Still not a problem. We’ll find somewhere else.” He stole another kiss that almost made her forget what she intended to say.  
“Yes, I want us to look for our own place together”, she affirmed, somewhat out of breath because Michael’s lips had started to attack her neck, leaving a tantalizing trail of light kisses on her skin.  
Okay, Michael thought, Sara wanted to talk, he would talk. He could multitask! “Do you have an idea of what kind of place or where we could live?” His mouth busy answering Sara, he turned to his hands to do the job. It was time to take advantage of his two fully functioning hands. He let them sneak under Sara’s blouse and touch her delicately.  
Sara gasped when his fingers reached the fabric of her bra. She needed to regain a little bit of composure but it was becoming more and more difficult thanks to Michael’s repeated “assaults”. She grabbed his hands to stop him and pushed him gently. “I don’t know where but I know what. I’d like us to find something bigger than what we currently have.”  
“Okay. How big are we talking about?” He resumed his actions, his fingers returning under Sara’s blouse in no time, his lips brushing against hers suggestively.  
“Big enough to have little Scofields running around?” For the first time since she arrived at Michael’s apartment that evening, Sara had no idea what to expect from Michael, hence the tiny inflection at the end of her sentence indicating her uncertainty. They had only talked about children after the gala she had invited him to. Both had said at the time that they wanted kids someday but that was a completely different conversation now, one she felt they needed to have since they were talking about their future. She looked at him anxiously, witnessing the shift from complete surprise to pure joy on his face in a matter of seconds.  
“Are you serious?”  
“I am if you are”, she replied resolutely.  
“Oh yeah!” With that, he crashed his lips on hers and used both hands to hold her in place, his left hand finding its way to her back to press her body firmly against his, while his right one tangled in her hair. Michael would have gladly continued kissing Sara but something that she had said had caught his attention. “Wait a second”, he commanded, examining her with incredulity. “Did you just ask me to marry you?”  
Sara stared at him for a second. “I guess I implicitly did”, she said, realisation slowly hitting her. “Oh my god, it was the worst marriage proposal in the history of proposals! Let me do it again, properly this time.” Michael shook his head, smiling at her reaction, but Sara straightened her back, smoothed down her shirt and cleared her throat for more effect before taking his left hand in her right and asking very seriously: “Michael Scofield, will you marry me?”  
Michael’s eyes were locked with hers when he answered: “Yes. Yes! YES!”


	29. A very productive Saturday

Saturday, July 29th - 8:17 am

 

“You know it’s creepy, watching someone sleep, and I’m not even talking about you trying to take advantage of my naked body while I’m sleeping…”  
“I wasn’t watching you sleep”, Michael argued. “I was… thinking. And believe it or not, drawing abstract patterns on your back was helping me focus.”  
Sara scoffed. “I fell in love with a dork”, she declared, turning on her back while putting the sheets up to cover herself.  
Michael chuckled. “Sorry but we’re already engaged so you’re stuck with me!”  
“Ha! Is it going to be your excuse now, every time we disagree on something?”  
“It might be”, he replied cheekily. His tone became serious suddenly and he looked at Sara with apprehension. “There’s something I need to tell you. I haven’t been completely honest with you.”  
“Michael, this is not what one wants to hear the day after deciding to marry you!”  
“Huh, sorry. It was a very bad preamble. It’s not as bad as it sounds, I promise.”  
“Okay…”  
“You remember the dream I had about you and I on the beach?”  
“Michael, you’ve had several dreams about us on the beach. You’re going to have to be more precise than that.”  
“The one where you were wearing a gorgeous dress and I said that we were just walking on the beach?”  
“Yes, I remember. What about it?”  
“We were on the beach for a very specific purpose… We were actually getting married.” Michael lowered his head as he finished his sentence. He should probably have told Sara before. He felt bad about it now.  
“You’re saying that you dreamt about our wedding?!”  
“Yeah.”  
“Wow! You never cease to amaze me!”  
“It’s a good thing, right?”  
“I guess it is… I mean how could I be mad at you for dreaming that we were getting married in the first place?”  
Michael smiled sheepishly. “That’s not the only thing that I omitted to mention… The day after that, I dreamt that I was making French toasts for you…”  
“Yes, I recall that! So?”  
“Well, I wasn’t only making breakfast for you. It was also for our… kids.”  
“For real?!”  
“Yeah, for real.”  
“Just out of curiosity, how many kids did we have in your dream?”  
“It wasn’t clear. Three? Four?”  
“Wow. I’m speechless, Michael!”  
“Sorry I wasn’t upfront about it but I was afraid to jinx it if I revealed everything…”  
“Wow”, Sara repeated. She knew that Michael had a very wild imagination but that was something else!  
She decided to change topics: “So, what were you thinking about when I woke up and you were playing Michelangelo on the skin of my back?”  
“Many things. Like where we’re going to live, our wedding…”  
“Michael, I’m going to cut you right here: we’re not going to have this conversation while we’re in bed, totally naked.”  
“No? You’re afraid I’m going to distract you too much?!”  
Michael smiled at Sara and she simply shook her head. “We need to get dressed before we start.”  
“But I want to enjoy your body a little while longer”, he complained. “Tell me just one thing: do you really want to change your name to Scofield and become Sara Scofield?”  
“I always told myself when I was younger that when I would get married I would change my name just to avoid being near the end of the alphabet. Now, with my father being the Governor of Illinois and all, I also look forward to a little bit of anonymity.”  
“So basically, you only want to change your name for very selfish reasons, not because you love me.”  
“Exactly. And to be completely honest, I would have preferred you to be called Michael Crane but I guess Scofield is an improvement from Tancredi…”  
“Crane?!”  
“It sounded better than Origami”, she replied with a wink and a soft smile that Michael returned instantly.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

After a quick breakfast, Michael talked again: “So I’ve had time to think things through and I think I should sell my apartment and we should live in yours until we find a home for our future family.” He smiled at the thought. Their future family. He liked the sound of that. “I’ve always been told by my real estate agent that it would sell in no time and for a good price. Besides, your place has two bedrooms while mine has only one…”  
Sara cut him: “Are you planning on sleeping in the guest room?!”  
“No”, he chuckled. “But another room means extra closet space and that is the incentive behind having a second bedroom.”  
“I see your point.”  
“Then, once we’ve sold my place, we can start looking for a new home. What do you say?”  
“Okay. It seems like a good plan.”  
“Great!” Michael grinned. They were going to live together!  
“I guess we should make the most of your brother’s truck to move some of your stuff.”  
“You’re right.”  
“Maybe we can start to pack now and ask Sam, Anna, Ali and Marc to help us this afternoon.”  
“Excellent idea, Miss Tancredi soon-to-be Mrs Scofield!”  
“Thank you, fiancé! I have my moments! Now, we need to decide where we’re going to get married…”  
“I have two words for you”, he said enigmatically. Sara looked at him with curiosity. “Las. Vegas.”  
“Oh no. Absolutely not! We are not going to elope to Las Vegas and get married by an Elvis impersonator.” Sara laughed at her own joke but she wasn’t sure Michael wasn’t serious when he mentioned the capital of Nevada.  
“It was just a suggestion, Sara. But think about it: we could fly there and get married in a few hours. It would save us a lot of trouble. I’m just saying… I only want to marry you.”  
“Oh Michael, you’re so romantic… But no, we are not going to fly to Las Vegas. That being said, I might have an idea… You only need to tell me how many guests you’re planning on inviting.”  
“My brother, Sofia, LJ, Sucre and Maricruz, my friend Adam from Loyola and his husband, Dr. Pope and his wife and some of my coworkers plus their date: I would say about 30. You?”  
“Approximately the same. Dr. Pope? Is that your… therapist?”  
“Ha! No.” Michael laughed quietly. “He is a professor at Loyola and he taught me when I was a freshman. He then was my advisor for my Masters. He became some kind of a father figure to me. I see him and his wife once a year, usually after I visit his first-year class. He thinks it’s good for students to get an idea of what a real-life engineer does and I must say that I like it. They always ask good questions.”  
“You never told me that”, Sara mused.  
“It never came up. Sorry.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael started packing as soon as Sara went to shower and was startled when he heard her voice behind him. “You should go shave and then shower otherwise we’re going to be late.”  
“Bossy”, Michael responded in mock indignation.  
“I thought you knew how much I like it when you’re clean shaven”, Sara retorted with a teasing smile.  
Michael didn’t reply anything but he almost ran to the bathroom, which made Sara giggle. She looked for her phone and scrolled down her list of contacts. She needed to call an old friend. She hoped that she would pick up.  
“Kate! Sara Tancredi.”  
“Sara! It’s been a while. How are you doing?”  
“I’m doing great! You? Dan and the kids?”  
“We’re all doing great! Thanks!”  
“How old are the twins now?”  
“They turned two in March.”  
“Wow! They must be a handful!”  
Kate scoffed. “You can say that. They’re adorable and annoying in almost equal parts…”  
Sara chuckled at her friend’s comment about her children and continued with the reason for her call: “Are you still working at the Museum of Contemporary Art?”  
“Yes. Still in charge of special events.”  
“Excellent. So, you’re the person I need to contact if I want to book the MCA for a wedding, right?”  
“Yes”, Kate replied, unsure. “Are you…? I mean, is it for you or are you calling me for someone else?”  
“That would be for me actually.”  
“WHAT?!” When Sara only laughed in the phone, Kate continued her interrogation: “When did that happen? Who is it? Do I know him?”  
“Slow down, Kate!” Sara pleaded. “We started dating in November. His name is Michael and I don’t think you know him.”  
“Physician?”  
“Not at all. He’s an engineer.”  
“God, you need to send me a picture of him because the image I have in my mind right now is one of a boring and very unattractive nerd and I suspect this is not accurate!”  
Sara giggled. “I can send you a picture but you need to tell me if we can get married at the museum or not.”  
“When are you looking at?”  
“I don’t know. Tell me what dates you have available and we’ll go from there?”  
“Sounds good. Give me a few minutes but in the mean time, I’m waiting for this picture!”  
“It’s on its way!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Ten minutes later, Sara’s phone rang. It was Kate. “You’re sure he’s an engineer and he doesn’t work as a model instead?”  
“Ha ha ha! Yes, I’m sure.”  
“Well, all I have to say is that he made me change my mind about nerds! They can look sexy! But enough about me drooling over your fiancé. I have checked all of our availabilities for the next year, year and a half and we have two dates that are available.”  
“Two. That’s good!”  
“One is January 6th…”  
“No wonder it’s still available”, Sara mumbled. “I mean, who wants to get married in January?!”  
“That’s what I thought.” She paused for a second before adding: “And the other date is September 9th.”  
“September 9th, 2018?”  
“No… September 9th, 2017.”  
“Oh.”  
“Yeah…” Kate heard Sara hum on the phone and didn’t know how to interpret her friend’s reaction.  
“Listen, Kate. I need to speak with Michael but I would really like to get married at the museum. Do you think you could hold on to the dates for me?”  
“Yes, no problem.”  
“Okay. I’ll call you back in 15 minutes, 30 minutes maximum.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“So I called a friend from high school when you were in the shower and I may or may not have found a venue and a date for our wedding…”  
“You didn’t waste any time!”  
Sara smiled. “I guess not. My friend Kate works at the Museum of Contemporary Art and she happens to be the go-to person if you want to organize events there, including weddings.”  
“Convenient”, Michael interjected before Sara continued.  
“They only had two dates available.”  
“Let’s hear it!” Michael looked at Sara with hopeful eyes.  
“January 6th is one of them”, she started, wincing.  
“Just after the start of the new year: yeah right!”  
“Exactly… Which leaves us with the other date: Saturday, September 9th.”  
“September 9th, like in little over a month from now?”  
“Yep! What do you think?”  
“I think that I was ready to fly to Vegas and be married to you before the end of the weekend so September 9th seems very distant in comparison!”  
“Is that a yes?”  
“If you believe we can make it happen, yes. Absolutely.”  
“My main concern is my father. Sam, Anna, Ali and Marc should all be free on that weekend.”  
“My brother too. Sucre and his family as well. But yeah, your father might have a busy schedule in September…”  
“Let me call his secretary.” It didn’t take long for Sara to get in touch with Governor Tancredi’s assistant. The woman said that the Governor’s schedule was free on that weekend. Michael was getting excited but Sara first needed to confirm with Bruce Bennett, her father’s right hand man. He would know if something was susceptible to happen on that day or not. To her relief and utter surprise, nothing was planned, nor in the works. “Well, it looks like we have found where and when!”  
Michael’s grin mirrored Sara’s. “Yeah! It’s all set then!”  
“Not so fast!” Sara saw Michael’s puzzled expression, Sara explained: “We still need to decide where we’re going to go on our honeymoon.”  
“How could I forget?! Where did you have in mind?”  
“Where did you have in mind?”  
“Here is what I propose, just to make sure we don’t influence each other: we both write our top 2 destinations and then we can discuss our options.”  
“Okay.”  
They did as Michael requested and Michael read what was written on Sara’s piece of paper. “Well, it looks like we’re going to Paris, France!”  
“Fantastique!”  
“Oui!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

After a morning that was busy with phone calls and important decisions, Michael and Sara drove to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet Sam, Anna, Ali and Marc. They spent some time catching up on their respective vacations and making small talk but when the waiter finally brought them their food, Sara couldn’t wait any longer: “So, Michael and I have news…”  
Ali reacted first and almost shouted: “You’re pregnant!”  
“Huh, no”, was all Sara could say at first. Then she started laughing because Ali’s response totally took her by surprise. “Sorry, it’s not funny. But no, Ali, I’m not pregnant.”  
“You got married in Costa Rica”, Anna offered with a big smile, while Sam said at the same time: “You finally decided to move in together!”  
Sara and Michael looked at each other and grinned, silently debating who was going to respond. Sara was the one who answered eventually: “Sam, you’re right. We are moving in together. Why did you say “finally” though? It’s not like we’ve been dating and living apart for years.” Sam shrugged and looked at them proudly. Sara wasn’t sure if she was proud of them taking that next step in their relationship or proud of herself for having guessed correctly. In any case, Sara needed to also address Anna’s suggestion because that was the big news they wanted to share… “Anna, we did not get married in Costa Rica, even if I’m sure Michael would have loved the idea.” Michael nodded in approval. He could already imagine it. “However”, Sara began, instantly catching everyone’s attention, “we are planning on getting married and are hoping that you can all be there to celebrate our special day. So are you free on Saturday, September 9th?”  
What followed was a mix of screams, hugs and questions (lots of questions) with a little bit of (happy) tears. The commotion attracted the other patrons’ interest but the group didn’t even notice. They were too busy trying to recover from the emotions of the moment.  
Michael and Sara did their best to answer their friends’ numerous questions, such as why Sara didn’t have an engagement ring (Sara explained that being an E.R. doctor and having to wear gloves all day meant that it was best to stay away from rings with big (or small) rocks, which Sam confirmed); did Michael propose in Costa Rica (Who says I’m the one who proposed, Michael countered. Smiling at her friends’ confusion, Sara added that maybe one day they’ll know the real story behind the proposal and left the four even more curious). Having answered every question, except the one concerning the proposal, Sara had one question for Marc: “Would you help me with my wedding dress, please?”  
“Sara, you’re aware that wedding dresses are not my specialty, right?”  
“Yes, I am. But I’m not planning on wearing a wedding dress. Let me rephrase that: I’m planning on wearing a dress but not a wedding dress, you know, the big “meringue” kind. I might go for white though but it won’t be an actual wedding dress. So, do you think you’ll be able to help me?”  
“I would love to!”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

After lunch, the “Magnificent Six” worked in teams to help Michael and Sara with the move. Sam joined Sara and went to her apartment to free some space and organize her own things before Michael, Anna, Ali and Marc went back to his apartment to pack what Michael had identified as the strict necessary, notably his clothes and kitchen stuff. While Ali focused on the kitchen and Anna on his bookshelves, Marc gladly took charge of Michael’s suits and Michael put his clothes in two big bags. They also took one item that couldn’t stay behind, his framed reproduction of “Alastor”. The painting forever a reminder of their story. 

 

The afternoon passed by very quickly and soon it was time for the couple to go to Frank Tancredi’s house for supper. The Governor greeted them in the living room of his large residence. He hugged his daughter and shook Michael’s hand.  
“You look so much like your mother with your freckles”, he mused, with a hint of nostalgia in his voice.  
Sara put a strand of hair behind her ear in an effort to mask the uneasiness she felt every time her father mentioned her mother. “I put a lot of sunscreen in Costa Rica but we spent our last day on a boat and I guess it was too much”, she tried to joke.  
“I remember my first Summer with your mother and I discovered that she had freckles when her skin was exposed to the sun. I told her that I thought it was funny, that she was transforming under the sun, and she just laughed at me. She found me weird!”  
Sara smiled and Michael put a hand on hers in support. Sara had told Michael that she wanted to tell her father about the wedding right away. He knew that she was feeling a little apprehensive (Michael was too, even if he tried not to let it show).  
“Dad, Michael and I have something to tell you.” She paused for a second before blurting without taking a breath: “We are getting married on September 9th and before you say anything, I’ve checked with your secretary and with Bruce, you’re available on that day.”  
Frank looked at Sara and Michael with big round eyes before a huge grin graced his face and he got up to hug his daughter tightly. Caught up in the moment, he hugged Michael too, a half-hug, but a hug nonetheless.  
“Congratulations! That’s great news! I’m very happy for you two.”  
“Thanks, Dad”, Sara responded, still somewhat uncomfortable. “You’re not upset?” Sara had finally voiced her concern.  
“Why would I be upset, Sara?”  
“I don’t know… Because we’ve decided to get married after dating for less than a year?”  
“Oh, sweetheart… I asked your mother to marry me six months after meeting her so no, I don’t think it’s too soon.” His eyes showed her he was sincere. Sara sighed, relieved.  
Michael’s phone rang unexpectedly and he excused himself, leaving father and daughter alone to talk to his brother to announce him the big news.  
“You’re sure you’re okay with us getting married, Dad?” Sara asked once again.  
“He makes you happy, Sara. I can see it. Everybody can see it. What more could I ask for?”  
“Thanks, Dad. I love you.”  
“I love you too, Sara.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“That was a very productive Saturday”, Michael declared when they entered Sara’s apartment (his apartment now too, he corrected himself). He went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and Sara glanced at the box that was on the counter. She grabbed the item that was on top and unfolded it. It was Michael’s apron. It had the image of a Jedi with a glowing wooden spoon in his hand instead of a lightsaber.  
Sara smiled at Michael. “Between your “Cooking Jedi” and my “Wonder Woman”, we can face any challenges life, and food, will throw at us!”  
Michael looked at her and returned her smile: “You’re absolutely right! But before we take on the world, what do you say I’ll show you my other Jedi skills?!” He raised his eyebrows suggestively while getting closer to Sara and brushing his lips against hers.  
“Please don’t even think about mentioning your lightsaber”, she ordered, capturing his lips in a short but intense kiss to silence him. She then took his hand in hers and led him to the bedroom. Michael followed with a smug grin on his face.


	30. Labor Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s notes:  
> Sorry about the delay, guys! It’s been hard to focus on this story with everything that’s been happening in Episodes #7 and #8, not that I’m complaining. I mean, so much happened in the last two episodes. That was crazy. And the insanity is not over! My review is at the end of this chapter…  
> Here is a new chapter just in time before the Finale…  
> Enjoy Chapter 30 and please leave a review if you have a minute!  
> FYI, if you want to picture Sara’s dress for the wedding, look up SWC on the interwebs for the Walking Dead Season 3 Premiere Red Carpet. It was a beautiful white dress with a gold (I think) thin belt at the waist. SWC always dresses beautifully, whether it’s for red carpets, interviews or conventions, but this dress is probably my favorite outfit of them all. Given that it’s white, I thought I could “borrow” it for Michael and Sara’s wedding. For their outfits for Labor Day, picture them with what they wore at their own party in the flashback from Episode #5.

Monday, September 4th 

 

Less than a week before the wedding and Sara was getting really excited. Her friend Kate had done a brilliant job preparing the venue, notably arranging everything from the food to the music. They were going to get married in one of the reception rooms at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Sara couldn’t be happier about that. Their guests were about 60 in total, an intimate ceremony considering that Sara was the Governor’s daughter (and potentially the daughter of the future vice-president of the United States) but the couple had insisted on staying true to their initial plan of keeping it small. The rings had been chosen and Marc, as promised, had helped Sara pick her dress for the ceremony. She couldn’t wait for Michael to see it! Despite eventually assisting Michael too (at the couple’s request so that they were sure to match), Marc had kept the details about the groom’s outfit from Sara, and vice versa. As a result, neither Sara nor Michael knew what the other was going to wear, except that it would be very elegant, as per Marc’s words. Sara was ready for the big day and would have liked to sit back and relax on Labour Day if it had not been for one “minor” detail: they had (reluctantly) agreed to make a public appearance at the Governor’s Labour Day Garden Party. Bruce Bennett had initially written a simple press release announcing Michael and Sara’s engagement but two months before the elections, they thought that completely keeping the couple away from the press wouldn’t be a wise strategic move for Frank Tancredi and his co-candidate. As a result, Michael and Sara were going to spend their afternoon at the Governor’s residence, surrounded by politicians, members of the public, journalists and photographers. Lots of photographers. They had dressed for the event, Sara with a long light gray skirt and an off-white sleeveless top, Michael with jeans and a light blue shirt. Part of the deal was to mingle with the crowd and participate in a photo shoot. Frank’s P.R. people cleared a corner of the garden to take the pictures and suggested that Sara sat on a patio chair with Michael perched on the armrest. Over the years, Sara had been in several photo ops but it was a first for Michael. He handled the whole thing with grace and humour but couldn’t mask the discomfort of having to pose for journalists and answer their questions, some way too personal for his liking. As soon as it was over and they were released from their duties, Sara grabbed him by the hand and walked across the crowd. She had an idea of what might cheer him up and allow them to relax… They were stopped a few times on their way to the house and both exhaled loudly when they made it inside, finally escaping everyone. Sara led him towards the stairs, looking over her shoulder at her fiancé. She saw Michael’s expression go from relief to surprise. He had no idea about her intentions and Sara enjoyed the thought of a clueless Michael. Michael’s hand still firmly in hers, she continued climbing up the stairs. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Sara shut the door behind her and locked it. Michael glanced around and his gaze fell on the queen size bed on his left. He looked at Sara with increasing curiosity and she smiled mysteriously as she walked to the window on the other side of the room, closing the curtains once she got there.  
“What’s going on, Sara? Where are we?”  
“We are in “my” room, the room I sleep in when I spend the night here.”  
“Okay…” Michael gave her a small smile, still unsure.  
“Do you remember the first time when you came here?” She took a few steps in his direction, not breaking eye contact.  
“For your father’s Christmas party?” Michael frowned, trying to figure out what that was all about.  
Sara stopped when she was in front of him, her hands on his chest. “Yes. You… propositioned me and I politely declined your offer…”  
Realization was visible on Michael’s face. His lips curled up slightly while his gaze got mischievous. “Now that you’re mentioning it, I also remember me propositioning you at Marc’s New Year’s Eve party.”  
Sara got nearer and whispered in his ear: “Do you remember me telling you that one day I might say yes?” With that, she kissed his jaw softly. Sara saw him close his eyes and swallow with difficulty.  
“Do you want me to ask you again?” he whispered back. His hands found their way to her hips, holding her close to him. Sara brushed her lips against his before answering with a husky “please”. Michael spoke quietly, his mouth almost touching Sara’s. “Do you want to have sex here, Sara?”  
Her “yes” sounded more like a moan than a simple positive answer and Michael crashed his lips on hers, moving them towards the bed in the process. Never breaking the kiss, Sara’s fingers untucked Michael’s shirt then started to unbutton it rapidly. As for Michael, his skilful hands focused on Sara’s skirt, swiftly relieving her of the piece. They had to temporarily unlock their lips when Michael went to remove Sara’s top but they resumed their kissing soon after.  
“God, you’re the best fiancée ever”, Michael managed to say between kisses.  
“Because I want to make love to you during my father’s party?”, she inquired teasingly, attacking Michael’s belt.  
“Among other things”, he replied, gasping when Sara’s right hand went inside his pants.  
“Care to elaborate?”  
“Not now”, he groaned in response. He captured Sara’s lips in a hungry kiss but they paused for a moment to finish undressing themselves. As soon as it was done, Sara pushed Michael on the bed with impatience, joining him immediately. “I knew you were not a good girl, Sara”, he declared playfully.  
Sara was momentarily distracted by Michael’s fingers as they began to caress her delicately. “They might think I’m a good girl but you and I know better”, she replied, her breath becoming irregular with Michael’s ministrations, especially when his hands approached her chest.  
“You’re the hottest bad girl in the whole wide world”, he said, his mouth leaving a trail of wet kisses on her neck.  
“Michael, you’re…”, she started, unable to complete her train of thoughts when his lips moved to her breasts without warning.  
“Yes?” he asked, not caring about an actual answer. Her non-verbal reactions were enough for him to know that he was doing things right.  
Sara felt his smile on her skin. The bastard, she thought, he’s good at it and he knows it. She intended to respond that it wasn’t the time to gloat but words eluded her. Instead, she grabbed his face in her hands to keep him away from the now very sensitive region and kiss him on the lips passionately. “I love you”, she said eventually, panting. Her body was burning with desire, just like Michael’s.  
Michael’s “I love you too, Sara” was the last articulate sentence that was pronounced for some time. What was heard in the room for the next hour were the sounds of bodies moving against each other and against smooth sheets, as well as incoherent words and moans that became increasingly louder. They tried to keep the decibels to a minimum, which proved difficult because of the almost overwhelming sensations.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“I can’t believe we’re getting married on Saturday”, Sara announced quietly after pressing her lips on Michael’s chest.  
“Do you mean “it’s-so-amazing-I-can’t-believe-we’re-getting-married-on-Saturday” or is it a “what-did-I-get-myself-into kind of thing"?”  
Sara chuckled silently. “Don’t worry, Scofield, it’s nothing bad. It’s just crazy to think that in a week we’re going to be married and on a different continent.”  
“I can’t wait!”  
“Which part?”  
“All of it. Us getting married. Our honeymoon in Paris. Finding a home. Starting our own family.” Sara smiled at the idea. She couldn’t wait either. It felt like so much had happened since she had first met Michael and so much was yet to come. She was excited to embark on this journey with her soon-to-be husband. Her contemplation was interrupted by Michael: “Do you think they’re wondering where we disappeared?”  
“I don’t know…”  
“Do we have to go back or can we hide in here until they’re all gone?”  
“We agreed to make an appearance, which is exactly what we did. But I’m afraid my father will not appreciate it if we abandon him completely.”  
“Let’s hope that the journalists won’t notice how wrinkled our clothes are now.”  
“Yeah, you could have been a little less in a hurry.”  
Michael scoffed: “Me?! You did nothing to slow me down… On the contrary!”  
“Ah well, they’re probably going to be too busy following my father anyway.”  
“Who knows? Maybe it would be good for your father’s popularity if they knew what we just did…”  
Sara giggled and kissed him softly on the lips. “Yeah, I’m sure of it”, she replied sarcastically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review for Episode #7  
> Episode #7 delivered, huh? The expectations were high and I wasn’t disappointed.  
> The reunion between Michael and Sara: WOW! And that kiss before they parted… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> Sara’s “I can’t” reminded me of their first kiss in the infirmary when she exited the room saying “I can’t”, leaving a flustered Michael behind. This time, she couldn’t leave him like that and she returned for the kiss… Already dreaming of their next reunion! (And hoping for a happy ending)  
> Surprise (or not): Jacob is Poseidon. He’s been called a rat but I think it’s so much worse than that. I mean, what T-Bag wanted to do to Sara at the end of Season 4 wasn’t good, but what Jacob did is SICK! How Sara is going to recover from that? To me, it’s worse than what Michael had to endure.  
> I must admit that I was frustrated with how Sara handled the whole situation of coming home and “wearing the mask”. Wasn’t she supposed to wear the mask until she could disappear with Mike? Now Mike and her are in trouble. I guess it was better for the story than if she had actually disappeared with Mike until Michael, Lincoln and the others have defeated Poseidon. Frustrating nonetheless. Please tell me Michael isn’t going to be the only to kick Jacob’s ass before the end of the season. I want Sara to get a chance to inflict pain on him too! Sorry, I’m feeling violent towards him…
> 
> Review for Episode #8  
> I thought Episode #8 was as great as Episode #7, albeit completely different. Despite anxiously waiting for Michael’s reunion with his son, I must admit that it’s T-Bag and Whip that stole the show for me. Wow! I did not see that coming. It makes sense now but wow nonetheless!  
> And that ending? It shouldn’t be allowed to finish an episode like that!  
> I’ve seen previews for the Finale. It’s going to be INTENSE!!!!! Like everyone else, I’m wondering how they’re going to fit everything in 40 minutes… Excited about the Finale but thinking that it’s the end is sad and depressing too.  
> Good luck to all of us, Prison Break fans and MiSa fans!!!!!!


	31. The wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience while I was busy starting another PB story. Here is the penultimate chapter for “You ever think? In another life?”   
> Little reminder from my author’s notes for Chapter 30: if you want to picture Sara’s dress for the wedding, look up SWC on the interwebs for the Walking Dead Season 3 Premiere Red Carpet. It was white and I “borrowed” it for the wedding :)  
> Enjoy this chapter and do not hesitate to leave a review :)

Saturday, September 9th 

 

Five minutes before the official starting time of the ceremony, Marc was examining Sara’s outfit, hair and makeup one last time when he received a text from Michael: “911. I’m in the room next to yours.”  
Worried, Sara let him go and went to wait outside, at the location where they had agreed to meet. Besides declining to wear a traditional dress, Sara had suggested that they also got rid of the part where the father of the bride walks her down the aisle. It felt too old-fashioned and formal for them. Their plan was to join their guests together. Four minutes later, the door opened revealing a proud Marc and a relieved Michael. Sara took the time to admire her fiancé in his tuxedo and found him absolutely perfect. “Nice outfit”, she commented with hungry eyes.  
“It’s Tom Ford. Do you like it?”  
“I love it! A tuxedo, huh? Seriously?!”  
Michael shrugged and raised his eyebrows, smiling. “The occasion was special enough to warrant a tuxedo, don’t you think?”  
“I think you are the most handsome groom ever!”  
“Thank you. You’re… You’re okay, I guess”, Michael replied, shrugging at the end to emphasize his supposedly serious statement. He wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t try to joke and/or make Sara laugh at a moment like that. Especially at a moment like that. Sara scoffed and slapped his arm playfully. “Sorry, I meant to say that you look beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning. Fabulous. Superb. Breathtaking. Splendid. Magnificent. Huh, do I need to continue?!”   
Mission accomplished: Sara had a big grin on her face. She shook her head and asked: “So, what was the emergency?”  
“I couldn’t manage to do my bow tie properly”, Michael answered in a sheepish tone.  
“Performance anxiety maybe?!” Sara asked teasingly.  
“If it’s the only instance of performance anxiety I’ll ever suffer from, I think we’ll be good”, he replied with a wink.  
Sara chuckled. “I know we’ll be good. I’ve complete faith in you, Michael”, Sara whispered to him.   
Marc who had gone to make sure that everyone was ready came back. “They’re waiting for you, guys!”  
Sara turned to Marc and said: “Thank you, Marc. Please go ahead and tell them we’re on our way. If you don’t mind, I’d like to kiss my fiancé one last time.”  
When Michael and Sara finally entered the room where the wedding would be held, they shared the same blissful expression. They were getting married and they couldn’t be happier! They walked hand in hand as if they were on a casual stroll in their neighborhood, stealing glances at each other on the way.  
Michael tried not to look too much at Sara’s dress for fear of doing something absolutely not appropriate for an event with 60 guests. If the front view showed a dress that was as elegant and flawless as Sara, the sight from behind was something else entirely, with the back partly exposed, revealing more skin than Michael could handle if he dared to think about it too much. It was so tempting to let his fingers touch the smooth material of the dress or Sara’s soft skin. Fortunately (or unfortunately, Michael wasn’t sure), his right hand was firmly in Sara’s left one and Sara had no intentions of letting him go.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Michael was to pronounce his vows first. He locked eyes with Sara and exhaled to calm his nerves. “Sara, words cannot express how happy I am that we are here today. A few weeks before we got engaged, I actually dreamt about us getting married. But I didn’t need to be high on painkillers to have the idea of us getting married. To be completely honest, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I thought about it on Valentine’s Day but I believe you wouldn’t have appreciated the timing of a proposal on that day. Too cliché for you.” Sara nodded and smiled, remembering the origami rose she had received on Valentine’s Day and Michael’s efforts to organize the best “Anti-Valentine’s Day” celebrations a few days later. “I thought about it when we went to Boston for our first trip out of town together. But I knew I wanted to marry you before that. I knew after the gala for the new wing of the children’s hospital.” Sara blushed, glad that he didn’t explain what he was referring to. “But the very first time I thought about us getting married was on the day that I met you. I was supposed to spend 10 minutes at Starbucks that day, just enough time to grab something for me and buy coffee for Lincoln, Sofia and LJ but when I saw you in line…” He locked eyes with Sara. “When I saw you in line, I decided to improvise. For those of you who know me, I usually prefer to have a plan.” Michael heard a loud “yeah, always the man with a plan” and he didn’t have to turn his head to know that the remark was coming from his brother. “At that moment, I knew that I needed to talk to you. It felt like my life depended on it and now I know that it was the case.” He smiled at Sara and saw that her eyes were misty with unshed tears. “It was the best parking ticket I’ve ever received in my entire life!” Sara chuckled and many guests joined her. “After talking to you for a few hours, I realized that you were simply perfect.” He paused for a second before resuming his vows: “That being said, I didn’t want to scare you so I decided to be patient. So patient that, in the end, you beat me to it!” He looked at all of their guests and added for them: “Maybe Sara will tell you the story behind the proposal. You’ll have to wait and see!” More laughs were heard and he smiled at Sara as he continued: “So here we are. Today. Getting married. And let me tell you, it’s even better than in my dream! Sara, I love you and I just want to marry you so will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”  
Sara nodded before she was able to articulate her answer: “Yes, I will”. Tears were threatening to spill but now wasn’t the time to become too emotional. Damn you, Michael Scofield, she thought. How was she supposed to talk after that?! She took one deep breath, then locked eyes with him and started: “Michael, you are the kindest person I have ever met, continuously thinking of others before yourself. You make me feel loved every day and your love is the greatest gift of all. You respect me, challenge me and always find a way to make me smile or laugh, even when the situation doesn’t warrant it. You’re a beautiful person, inside and out. When you first suggested that we move in together, I was taken by surprise. You said that you wanted to see me every morning before leaving for work, that you wanted to cook for me when we get back and that you wanted to fall asleep with me every night. That was one of the sweetest things you ever said to me. We moved in together less than a week later and since then I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to share my life with you. To go back to your idea of us moving in together, I don’t know why I was surprised. It wasn’t that I couldn’t see myself living with you. I still wonder why we didn’t have that conversation sooner. In any case, when I thought about it, it was evident that us living together wasn’t the only thing that I wanted. Michael, I want everything with you. A future together. A family. So, what started as a conversation about homes became a conversation about children and ended up with me I asking you to marry me!” Sara looked at her four closest friends, Sam, Anna, Ali and Marc, and smiled. Her gaze returned to Michael before she continued. “It wasn’t a grand proposal. Sorry about that!” Michael chuckled quietly. “I wasn’t sure how you would feel about me getting down on one knee so I kept it simple. To the point.” She took a deep breath before locking eyes with Michael. “I can’t wait to continue this journey with you. I love you and today I’m asking you the same question I asked you in July, a week after we came back from Costa Rica: Michael Scofield, will you marry me?”  
Michael’s eyes were shining and he had a big smile on his lips when he answered Sara: “Yes, I will.”  
They were so lost in each other’s gaze that they barely paid attention to the words pronounced next to them afterwards. What they understood though, was that they were now officially husband and wife and that they could kiss each other. Michael briefly contemplated sending everyone away and keeping Sara to himself but was taken back to reality by Sara who, as if she was reading his mind, whispered that he needed to be patient. He chuckled on her lips and reluctantly put some distance between their bodies, only allowing his hand to firmly grip hers as they exited the room where the ceremony had been held. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Hi, my name is Lincoln. I’m Michael’s brother. I’m supposed to say a few words, just like I was supposed to wear a suit and tie today. Michael, Sara, enjoy the sight because you won’t see me like that anytime soon!” He pointed at his outfit that was as far away as possible from what he would usually wear. Michael laughed under his breath, acknowledging his brother’s words with a nod of the head. Sara refrained herself from commenting that she always thought he was allergic to the top buttons of all of his shirts. “Sara, thank you for taking pity in my little brother and marrying him. I know he can be a handful but he’s harmless so if you could keep him, I would appreciate it!” Sara giggled and for only answer kissed Michael’s cheek sweetly. “More seriously, you understand my brother and love him for who he is and that’s the most important thing to me. Considering that we are here today, I assume that the feeling is mutual so congratulations, guys. I’m very happy for you. Cheers!” With that, he raised his glass and when everyone else had followed suit, he took a big gulp of his drink. Michael left Sara’s side momentarily to go and hug his brother shortly after his toast. Michael knew that public speeches were not Lincoln’s cup of tea and thus he appreciated his heartfelt words even more. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Good evening, everyone one. I’m Frank, Sara’s father, and just like Lincoln, I was asked to say a few words for the newly weds. Please let me start by saying that I may give speeches for a living but that nothing can prepare you for speaking at your only daughter’s wedding.” He looked at Sara fondly and Sara smiled at him in return. “Sara, I remember the day when you met Michael. You were late, which was very unusual for you. But more importantly, you were smiling like I hadn’t seen in a long time. At least, not since you were a child. Apparently, you had started talking to this guy and only stopped hours later when I called you because you were late for our lunch. You told me that he was an engineer, that he was about your age, that he was funny and that you had a date with him later that day. I met Michael two weeks later but didn’t have the chance to really talk to him then. When I saw Michael for the second time, at a Christmas party that I had organized, Michael and I played a game of chess. Being a competitive person, I obviously wanted to win. Secretly, I also wanted to discover what my daughter’s new boyfriend was made of and if he was good enough for her.” Frank gave an apologetic smile to his daughter and continued: “During the game, I noticed that Michael seemed to be more focused on you, Sara, than on the board in front of him. For your information, he managed to beat me without breaking a sweat!” The Governor chuckled at his memorable defeat. “It wasn’t good for my ego but I learned something important that day, besides the fact that Michael was a brilliant chess player, the best I had ever encountered. You, Sara, were his number one priority. So, Michael, I hope you continue to make my daughter your number one priority. The smile that she had on her face on the day she met you is the same she has today. You make my little girl happy and that’s all every parent wants for their child. Michael, Sara, congratulations and I wish you all the happiness in the world.”  
Sara joined her father in a loving embrace. Frank’s speech had mostly been light-hearted and for that, she was grateful. However, his mention at the end about “every parent wanting their child happy” had almost brought Sara to tears. It was his subtle way to include her mother in his speech and Sara was reminded how much she would have liked to have her present too. When she went back to Michael’s side, she leaned into him and received a kiss on her cheek while his arm went around her waist. They didn’t need to speak about it. She knew he was probably feeling the same thing as her. Missing a parent, or both parents in Michael’s case, was not something you could forget, even on your wedding day. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“Are you really going to change your name, Sara?”  
“Yes, Sam. Starting when we get back from our honeymoon, I expect you to call me “Dr. Scofield”!”  
“I think it’s going to take some time to get used to it but I’ll do my best. Only because I don’t want to sound unprofessional with my esteemed colleague”, Sam replied with wink.  
“I appreciate your work ethic, colleague”, Sara said on the same tone.  
“Are you going to stay in Paris the whole time or are you going to visit other parts of France?” Anna was curious. She had always wanted to visit France but, so far, the occasion had never presented itself.  
“We’ll have enough to do in Paris for the 12 days that we’re going to be there.”  
“What have you planned then?”  
“Well, this one”, Sara pointed at Michael, “has registered us for cooking classes for a week.”  
“You are going to cook, Sara?!” Ali looked at her with big round eyes indicating her disbelief.  
“Ha ha, you’re very funny, Ali! We are going to learn French cuisine from French chefs. Together. So yes, that includes me too.”  
“Okay. But seriously, you’re going to do that for a week?!”  
“Only a few hours each afternoon and then we’re going to eat what we’ll have prepared”, Michael interjected before Sara could.  
“Is it going to be in French?” Marc inquired.  
“Is it, Michael?” Sara repeated the question to him. She wasn’t sure if he had mentioned that detail before.  
“Huh, I don’t know actually… It might be…”  
“Oh my god, I would pay to see you two there!”  
“Okay, my French might be a little bit rusty but I’m sure Michael’s is great so we’ll be fine”, Sara retorted.  
“Yes, we’re going to be paired anyway so we’ll have to rely on teamwork even more maybe… Sara and I work well together in the kitchen. We’ll be fine.”  
“You work well together meaning there’s actually cooking being done or is it another kind of cooperation you imply when you say you “work well together” in the kitchen?!”  
Sara pretended not to understand Ali’s not so subtle allusion but Michael’s reaction betrayed her poker face as he tried to hid his grin, rather unsuccessfully. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

“After you, Mrs. Scofield.” Michael held the door open for Sara. Frank had booked for them the Gold Coast Suite at the Waldorf Astoria which was five minutes away from the Museum of Contemporary Art.   
“How gallant of you, Mr. Scofield.”  
“Anything for my wife!”  
“How long have you been waiting to say that?!”  
“Not as long as I’ve wanted to touch you. This dress…” He didn’t finish, only moving his right hand in Sara’s direction while she was walking towards their private outdoor terrace.  
“Do you have a fetish for silky dresses?” she asked with a teasing tone, looking at Michael over her shoulder.  
“Only because you are wearing one! Remind me to send Marc a thank you gift for the dress!”  
“Yes, a big one because I really like your tuxedo too!”  
“I wasn’t sure you would like me in a bow tie.”  
“I love you with a bow tie! You look like a beautifully wrapped present!”  
Michael frowned at Sara’s comment and tilted his head on the side. “Is it the moment when I’m supposed to ask if you want to open your present?”  
Sara laughed out loud. “Only if you want to.”  
“Considering that the present is going to be pretty rumpled if you wait until tomorrow, I’m going to ask you.”  
They spent their last night in Chicago before flying to Paris in the posh suite, not really taking the time to admire the beautiful city view from the terrace, but they enjoyed every minute of it.


	32. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter… Finally! Enjoy the epilogue (which gave me a lot of trouble, especially the last section) and leave me a review if you liked the story.  
> Do not hesitate to have a look at my other story, “Prison Break - Season 5 Episode 10” (yes, that’s the title I picked and I’m embarrassed about it now).  
> Sending you lots of MiSa love :)

September 11-20, 2017

 

Michael and Sara landed in Paris for their honeymoon on Monday morning and went straight to their hotel. They had a quick shower there, then they wandered around near their hotel until it was time for them to go to their cooking class. Much to Michael’s amusement, the classes were indeed in French! They had a good laugh about it and worked even harder to follow the instructions and prepare their meal. In the end, their first attempt at cooking French food in France wasn’t bad and they exited the building with pride, already looking forward to their next lesson.  
The rest of the week followed the same routine: breakfast near their hotel (croissants and baguettes were their favorite choices); visit of a popular attraction; cooking class, including supper; and a long walk before going back to their hotel. They went to several museums and loved each one: Musée d’Orsay famous for its Impressionists (they admired several masterpieces there, including some by one of Sara’s favorite painters, Paul Cezanne, and Michael’s new favorite one, Vincent van Gogh); Musée du Louvre, if only for Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa; Musée Rodin named after the well-known sculptor (they both fell in love with its beautiful garden where they were able to admire Rodin’s most renowned sculpture, The Thinker). They also visited Paris’ most iconic monument, the Eiffel Tower. They visited it during the day and came back at night to see it illuminated. Magical every time! For their last days in Paris, they did a cruise on the Seine, had a picnic in Luxembourg Gardens and got lost in the beautiful streets of Montmartre. Between touristic activities and delicious food, they walked for hours and ended each day exhausted. That being said, Paris was the city of love and it lived up to its reputation for the Scofields as they also made love a lot while in the capital of France. In the end, Michael and Sara’s honeymoon was everything that they had hoped for and more. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Friday, December 15th

 

Michael’s apartment had been sold at the end of August and they had started looking for a house a few weeks after their return from Paris. They found the perfect place for their future family in November and finalized the purchase ten days before Christmas. Michael and Sara got the keys to their new house on December 15th and immediately started on the renovations. Lincoln helped, Sucre too. Even LJ lent a hand whenever possible. In total, they spent a month working part time on the renovations, mostly weekends, and dedicated more hours during the holidays. They wanted to remodel the kitchen (Michael “The Chef” Scofield had insisted), upgrade the upstairs bathroom (a necessity according to Sara) and repaint the whole house. Sara took part in the painting. For the rest, she mostly contributed by giving her opinion and making sure that everything was ready for the move. Michael and her often spent several evenings in the month of January prepping walls and painting room after room. Michael’s very old jeans (the ones ripped at the knees that Sara particularly liked) reappeared and it didn’t help speed up the process… 

 

One night, Sara cornered Michael in the master bedroom and they ended up making love in their new house for the first time. On a sheet. On the floor. Because they had nothing at that point in terms of furniture. They “christened” the rest of the house by also making love in the other (still empty) bedrooms, in the kitchen when it was completely renovated (both appreciated the versatility of its large counter tops!), and in the living room as they took advantage of Michael’s very comfortable couch one Sunday afternoon. They decided against having sex in the basement on the grounds that it was for guests and that it would be somewhat inappropriate. 

 

On Friday January 19th, Michael and Sara went to the house one last time before the big move that was planned for the next day. Michael needed to finish painting one of the bedrooms upstairs while Sara was to clean the bathroom next door. When Sara was satisfied with her job and with the overall design of her new bathroom, she went to check on Michael. They needed to go back to the apartment. It was getting late and they had a long weekend ahead of them. However, her plan was derailed as soon as she entered the room and saw her husband. Michael who had just applied one last coat of paint was busy picking up his tray, roller and brush from the floor. Sara admired the view for a few seconds (god, those jeans!) before jumping in and helping Michael clean the rest of the room. She removed the sheets that were protecting the floors and put them in a garbage bag with the things that were to be discarded. She then grabbed him by the hand and gently but firmly led him to the bathroom to show him her own work. At least, that was what he thought initially. He was about to comment on the bathroom’s spotless look when he noticed that Sara had taken her top off.  
“What are you doing, Sara?”  
Sara got rid of her shoes, pants and socks next. Then, when she was only in her underwear, she finally answered Michael’s question: “Well, right now, I’m hoping that you’re going to join me in the shower. I think it’s time we test our new shower cabin and see if it can comfortably accommodate two people…”  
Michael’s response was to undress as quickly as possible. Sara smiled to herself when she started the shower. She already loved their new house!

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Wednesday, February 14th, 2018

 

Sara had contemplated for a long time what to do for Valentine’s Day that year. Inspiration had come three weeks before the date that would mark their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. More importantly for Sara, it would be her first attempt at organizing something for the two of them after Michael had convinced her to celebrate the romantic holiday. After two days of late-night shifts at the hospital, Sara appreciated having the day off to relax and get ready for Michael’s surprise evening. After doing two loads of laundry and some cleaning, she sat down on the couch in the living room and only planned to take a short nap but her body seemed to need more rest than she thought. She woke up with a start at 5:22 pm. Damn, she was late! She grabbed her keys and left the house in a hurry. She had two stops to make to finalize her preparation: first at their favorite gelato shop, then at the Thai restaurant that was 10 minutes away from their place. 

 

When Michael arrived home at 6:12 pm (only twelve minutes after his intended arrival), he found the house empty. Perplexed, he looked everywhere for a note that Sara could have left for him. He found none and decided to go and take a shower. Michael was almost finished when he felt two arms wrap around his waist from behind. His heart skipped a beat: Sara was with him in the shower! A grin broke on his face. He slowly turned around and barely had time to say “hi” to Sara that her soft lips were on his.  
“Hi”, Sara said after a slow kiss that left both of them wanting for more. “Food should be here in 20 minutes”, she added before pushing him gently so that she could be under the spray and start to wash up.   
Michael observed Sara for a moment and cogitated. When Sara had told him that food would be there in 20 minutes, did she mean that he’d better move and let her finish her shower in peace or did she mean that they should be quick if they wanted to make love in the shower? He thought that it was the latter and not the former. He hoped that it was the latter. Since they had officially moved in, the bathroom had become their destination of choice when they wanted to be intimate outside of the bedroom. He wasn’t against the idea of another intimate moment in their spacious shower cabin but he needed to be certain so he asked Sara: “Just to be sure, you don’t want me to leave you alone in here, do you?”  
“It’s totally up to you, Michael”, she replied. However, her intentions were very clear when she pressed her naked body against Michael’s and added suggestively in his ear: “I would prefer if you stayed though!”  
Michael swallowed and nodded. That day was getting better by the second! He took Sara in his arms and kissed her passionately on the lips. They didn’t have a minute to waste… 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

When the door bell rang 18 minutes later, Michael and Sara were still getting dressed. Each had a satisfied smile on their lips. Michael went to the door and Sara joined him in the kitchen shortly after. Sara had ordered grilled chicken with steamed rice for her and grilled pork with rice vermicelli for Michael. There were also two small salads to go with their meal. Michael was surprised by her picks. It wasn’t their regular take-out or delivery food. However, he didn’t say a word since he knew that Sara was already making an effort by preparing everything for Valentine’s Day. Michael had offered to take over but it was her turn, she had reminded him, and he wasn’t allowed to complain about anything. As a result, he took his plate and a glass of San Pellegrino (he mirrored Sara’s own selection) and followed her in the living room. Sara had put some electronic music in the background and they started to eat in comfortable silence. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

For dessert, Sara brought a bowl with two big scoops of coconut ice cream to Michael, while she kept a bowl with lemon ice cream for herself. Michael frowned at her choice of food once again that night but didn’t comment. Lemon ice cream wasn’t bad by any means, it was just an unusual flavor for Sara contrary to coconut which was his usual (and only) flavour. Pushing his questioning aside, Michael attacked his delicious dessert with enthusiasm. He finished in no time and Sara eagerly went to one of the bedrooms upstairs where she had hidden Michael’s present for Valentine’s Day. She had insisted that he refrained from buying her anything (her year, her rules!) and he had obeyed her so there would only be one present for him.   
“I thought that you joining me in the shower was my present…”  
“No, that wasn’t part of it. It was more on the spur of the moment”, she chuckled.  
Michael laughed quietly. “I was ready to tell you that that was the best Valentine’s Day present EVER!”  
Sara shook her head and handed him a large box with a red bow on top. Michael eyed the box suspiciously, weighing it and shaking it lightly. He felt and heard absolutely nothing. All that he could conclude from his inspection was that his gift wasn’t heavy. Curious, he started to unwrap it and he opened the box. What he found inside left him more confused than ever. It was a Mickey Mouse plush toy.   
“I don’t understand”, he said after a while. Mickey Mouse? Mickey Mouse holding a small red heart in his hands? Was that Sara’s attempt at offering him something romantic? He wasn’t expecting something extravagant for Valentine’s Day, especially coming from Sara, but he felt like he was missing something. Sara’s expression confirmed that he was indeed missing something: she had a proud grin and her eyes were sparkling with mischief. “There’s more to it than this, right?” he asked while he held Mickey between them.   
Sara nodded enigmatically before putting Michael out of his misery (she knew that he didn’t appreciate being in the dark): “Well, we need to start preparing for our future trip to Disney World…”  
Michael’s eyes widened in shock. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?!”  
“Yes, I am”, Sara replied, trying not to get too emotional.   
“You’re pregnant?! We’re going to be parents?!” He suddenly had a big smile on his lips.  
“Yes, Michael. We’re going to be parents!”   
“This is the best Valentine’s Day present EVER!” He took Sara in his arms and kissed her as she was still giggling. “I love you. I love you so much, Sara.”  
“I love you too, Michael.”  
They stayed in each other’s arms for about a minute before Michael spoke again: “Just so I understand: the food tonight?”  
“The only food I could imagine eating and even smelling!”  
“And the ice cream?”  
“For some reason, I can’t stand the idea of chocolate right now…”  
“But lemon is okay?”  
“Yes. Don’t ask me why!”  
“Wow! You’re pregnant!”  
“Yep.”

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Saturday, March 14th, 2025

 

Sara walked to the waiting area with a tray of hot beverages and a bag of muffins from the airport Starbucks. Her drink, identified by a simple “Sara” written on it, was coffee. The other three were hot chocolate and were intended for Michael (“Husband”) and their sons (“#1” and “#2”). They both had inherited their father’s sweet tooth and love for hot chocolate. The eldest was six years old and had also inherited his father’s dark hair and blue eyes. His younger brother who would turn four in less than a month had her eyes. His hair was dark blonde (apparently from her father’s side of the family). They ate their breakfast rapidly and soon heard the announcement that they were waiting for.  
“Let’s go”, Sara said, “Mickey Mouse is waiting for us!” Michael stood up from his chair and smiled at her. Sara wasn’t sure who was more thrilled to go to Disney: her husband or her sons. She smiled back and got up. It was time to board their plane to Orlando!

 

Their week at Walt Disney World was as magical as advertised and as Michael had dreamt that it would be. They came back exhausted from all the attractions and excitement and with memories to last a lifetime. In the following weeks, much to her surprise, Sara discovered that she was pregnant. According to her calculations, the baby had been conceived in Florida. Clearly, the kids were not the only who had fun at Disney… Less than eight months later, the Scofields became a family of five with the addition of a beautiful baby girl. Parents and brothers were ecstatic. It looked like they would have to go back to Disney World in a few years.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Thursday, September 9th, 2027

 

Hawaii! Michael and Sara were in Hawaii to celebrate their 10-year anniversary while their children were with Lincoln and Sophia in Chicago. They had arrived two days before, tired and jet-lagged, and had gone to bed directly (life with three kids and full-time jobs was challenging). Their previous day had been spent walking on a volcano and enjoying a relaxing evening by the beach. By the time Michael had joined Sara in bed after brushing his teeth, she had already been asleep so he had snuggled behind her, putting his right arm around her waist and soon falling asleep too. When she woke up the next day, she had a big smile on her lips. It was their wedding anniversary! She rolled on her side to get closer to Michael who was lying on his back, showing no signs that he was awake. Sara admired her husband for a moment before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss on his lips. She touched his cheek delicately and smiled when she saw him open his eyes and look at her. He soon returned her smile and she kissed him again, not able to contain a small sigh of pleasure to escape from her lips when she felt his hand sneak under her tee-shirt and start to caress her back. Michael opened his mouth to deepen their kiss (he knew how he wanted to start the celebrations for their 10-year anniversary!) but Sara gently pushed him away, breaking the kiss in the process.   
“I’m sorry, Michael, but we have somewhere to go. Now. Come on, get up!”  
Michael groaned and reluctantly joined Sara in the bathroom. Twenty minutes later they were in a taxi. Destination: unknown (at least to Michael). The taxi left them at a large intersection and he immediately noticed where Sara wanted them to go: Starbucks. He glanced at his watch (it was 9:24 am) and understood Sara’s hurry earlier.  
“You’d better find us a table, otherwise we risk having to share one with strangers!” She winked at him over her shoulder as she walked towards the counter to place their order. Michael followed her with his eyes and laughed quietly. She came back a little while later with two beverages, a chocolate chip muffin for Michael and a blueberry one for her. Sara had expected Michael to be curious about what was written on their cups. What she got instead was Michael’s gaze focused on her breasts with an expression of amazement on his face.  
“My eyes are up here, Michael”, she joked.  
Michael chuckled and felt his cheeks redden. He had been caught! “Did you go on another trip to Victoria’s Secret to surprise me, Sara?”  
Sara smiled and shook her head. “No”, she said simply.  
“I thought you were wearing my 10-year anniversary present!”  
Sara laughed out loud at Michael’s comment. “No! But about that… Here is your present.” She handed him a cup with something written on it.  
Michael read the inscription “Super Daddy” and frowned. “Is it my superhero alter ego?”   
“Maybe it should be your new nickname”, she retorted.  
Michael had imagined “Mr. Scofield” and “Mrs. Scofield”, not “Super Daddy” and… What was on Sara’s cup? He turned the cup to make sure that there wasn’t anything else written on it. No, there was only “#4” in black ink. “Number four?”  
Sara hummed in approval.   
Realization hitting him, Michael exclaimed: “Are you serious?!”  
That time, Sara nodded slowly before adding: “Apparently…”  
“Wow! Number four is on the way?!”  
“Yep”, she confirmed.  
Michael grinned. “How far along are you?”  
“Twelve weeks”, Sara whispered.  
“Twelve weeks?” Michael repeated loudly. “How come you didn’t tell me sooner?”  
“I only learned I was pregnant ten days ago”, Sara defended herself.  
“Really?!” Michael asked, disbelief evident in his voice. “I thought you were a physician, Sara!”  
“Ha ha, very funny. You want to laugh more? I thought I was showing early signs of menopause.”   
“You never mentioned anything…”  
“Did you need to know that maybe your wife was starting her menopause? I’m only 40 years old, Michael.”  
“Huh…”  
“Anyway, my periods were suddenly irregular or inexistent, then there was the weight gain…”  
“In all the right places”, Michael interjected with a smile, his eyes falling on her breasts once again.  
“Believe me, it’s not just in my boobs!”  
“You look beautiful”, he replied sincerely before leaning over the table and kissing her on the lips.  
Sara blushed and kissed him back. “Happy 10-year wedding anniversary, Mr. Scofield!”  
“Happy 10-year wedding anniversary, Mrs. Scofield!”  
The rest of their breakfast was mostly silent until Sara asked: “Over ten years ago, when we first met, did you ever imagine us with three kids?”  
“Three and a half”, he mumbled.  
“Three and a half”, she corrected herself with a smile.   
“To be honest, no. Absolutely not. I could imagine myself with you but kids were not on my mind when we first met.”  
“What was on your mind then?”  
“Well, more something in line with what we were doing this morning…” He locked eyes with her and continued in a suggestive tone: “In case you were not aware, my plan was to make love to you before breakfast but your plan clearly got in the way of mine!”  
“Well, you can make love to me when we go back to our room. I’m pretty flexible, you know…”  
Michael chuckled: “In more ways than one!”  
Sara giggled, suddenly wishing their resort was closer. “I love you.”  
“I love you too, Sara.”

 

The End


End file.
